Reapertale: Advent of Chaos
by kingarther88
Summary: A story based off the reapertale au by renrink. Includes many of the canon elements, but with some new characters and storyline. The gods have shaped their world and have chosen humans to dwell in it. However, a malevolent force seeks to destroy everything they have accomplished. Will the gods and humans survive? Or will darkness take them all?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

In the beginning, there were the gods. They were born from the stars and lived amongst the heavens. They looked upon the empty universe and knew it was their duty to shape and maintain it. Asgore, king of the gods and ruler of the heavens arranged the stars, gave shape to planets, and gave the world a physical form. Gaster, God of Magic, established the arcane laws that governed reality and gave the world order. Toriel, wife of Asgore and Goddess of Life, gave birth to all manner of creatures that began to fill the world they had created. Gerson, God of Wisdom, studied the universe and it's mysteries, unraveling its secrets in hopes of protecting and maintaining it. For the gods were powerful, but they were not alone. A malevolent evil also existed, one which sought to destroy all that came from the light of the stars, to destroy the gods and their work. Drawn to the life that Toriel had created, the evil came forth from the void, and knew nothing of peace or balance, but simply destruction. Known as Chaos, he waged a ferocious battle against the gods. Undyne, Goddess of War, took up her spear and led the charge, but her power alone was not enough to stem the tide of evil. Alphys, the Goddess of Knowledge, knew that only together could the gods stand against their foe, and so the gods stood as one against Chaos. Combining their strength, they repelled their foe and cast him back into the void from whence he came, helpless and weak. Thinking him destroyed, Asgore decreed a celebration throughout the heavens, and at the coronation of their victory, Toriel presented Asgore with her newest and most accomplished creations. Calling them humans and naming them her children, they were creatures with features that resembled many of the gods, yet they were also unique. They were unique for they possessed a higher degree of thought than any of Toriel's past creations, and each possessed a strong will, capable of doing anything they set their mind too. Asgore praised his wife, and announced that the humans would be the chosen race of the gods to inhabit and rule the realm they had created. And there was an era of peace. As the humans multiplied, their needs gave purpose to many of the gods that fought against Chaos. Grillby became God of the Hearth, and Muffet became the Goddess of Fortune. During this time, Asgore and Toriel conceived a child of their own. Naming him Asriel, he became the God of Hope, symbolizing the bright new future of the universe. However, this hope would soon be challenged, and not even the gods could escape what was coming.

Chapter 1

It was another beautiful day outside. The birds were singing and the flowers were blooming. Days like these reminded Chara of that first moment, when she opened her eyes and saw her mother for the first time. " _Although,_ " she thought, " _not many would be willing to believe that my mother isn't human._ " She smiled as she thought about it. Chara was one of the original humans created directly by Toriel's hand. In fact, she was _the_ original human, the first ever to open her eyes in this world. She closed her eyes, recalling that glorious day.

She woke up. Which was really weird, because she didn't remember going to sleep. Startled and confused, she looked around her and discovered that she was in big room filled with golden light. She looked down at herself, further confused by the sight of her own body and all of the new sensations she was feeling.

"Hello, my child."

Looking up, she came face to face with a large, goat like creature. Wait, goat? What was a goat? And why did she feel so certain that this creature looked like one? Despite the fact that the creature was several times larger than her, she didn't feel threatened by it at all. All she felt was a sense of warmth and comfort. Slowly, she asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Toriel, my child. And I am your mother, the one who created you," the goat creature said.

Her eyes wide Chara replied, "Mother? Created? Are you… a god?"

Toriel smiled, her face full of light. "Indeed. I am the Goddess of Life. Welcome to the world… Chara."

The first few days were such a blur that she couldn't remember everything exactly. After discovering that someone had decided to grant her life, Chara nearly fell apart in a storm of emotion. Her joy had soared to even greater heights when she learned that she would soon have brothers and sisters, other humans just like her. Just like her, but also different. They were all distinctly human, but everyone also had their own unique identity. There were seven of them at first, all children. Shortly after their birth, they were taken to the grand hall of the king's palace to be presented to him. She smiled again, remembering Asgore. For a king of the gods, he could make a pretty goofy face. She remembered being nervous as he examined her and her siblings. After a few minutes which seemed like an eternity, he proclaimed, "Tori, you have outdone yourself! These humans will surely be the race that inherits the world we have built!"

After that, they all participated in the grand feast of the gods. The gods were so amazing. They all had different forms, each one taking shape as he or she willed it. She and her siblings were introduced to all of them; the fearless Undyne, the old turtle Gerson, even the mysterious God of Magic, Gaster. When the feast was over Asgore sent them home with Toriel while he conferred with his advisors on how the humans would settle the world. After a few days they were brought before him again and were told that as the first humans, they would be chosen acolytes charged with teaching the rest of humanity about virtues and the gods. Her siblings became the acolytes of Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, and Justice, while Chara herself was named the Acolyte of Faith. Chara swore that she would make them all proud, and Asgore sent them down to the earth beaming. Because of their positions as acolytes, Chara and her siblings would remain like children, while Toriel created other humans who would mature and reproduce, growing the human race.

It had been many years since then, and she and her siblings had indeed made the gods proud. They taught and ministered to their people and everyone praised the gods and were thankful for what they had been given. Chara loved her work, even if it did mean journeying endlessly from village to village. " _But, it does worry me that our race has grown so big. Its getting harder and harder to visit everyone every year. Sometimes I wonder if Asgore has a plan to deal with it. If we grow much bigger, I won't be able to preach to everyone."_

She mulled it over for a few moments. "Come on Chara," she said aloud to herself. "You're the Acolyte of Faith, for crying out loud. Least you can do is have a little faith yourself. I'm sure Mom and Asgore have a plan, you just need to be patient and wait for them to reveal it. Maybe I'l ask Asriel about it next time he visits."

And with that, she set off for the next village, humming the tune her god sibling had taught her.

When she arrived, she was greeted by the town's elder. "Welcome, Lady Chara! It has been awhile since your last visit. We have several new people here that have yet to see an acolyte with their own eyes."

"Thank you, elder. I can't wait to start helping your people. Has the village fared well since I've been gone?"

"Yes, it has. We had a bountiful harvest this last year, and we've expanded the village without any problems. We also have a surprise for you!"

"Really? What is it?"

"Our village has finally completed a temple to the gods. We've built it with an acolyte's suite attached to serve as your room whenever you come visit us. Come, you must be tired from your journey. The people have begun preparing a feast to celebrate your arrival, why don't I show you around the temple?"

"That sounds amazing! I can't wait to see what you've accomplished."

With that, the elder escorted her to the temple. Along the way, she waved at some of the people she remembered from her last visit. A few of the children had grown into adults. Had it really been that long since she last came here? Her cheerful demeanor slipped just a bit when she realized that some of the people weren't waving back. They weren't even smiling. In fact, some of them were giving her dirty looks. What was wrong? Were they angry at her for something? Her earlier thoughts began to surface, but she pushed them aside and focused on the temple these people had built.

It was magnificent. Human determination was really a wondrous thing. This was the largest temple she had ever seen. In fact, she wondered how she didn't notice on her way in, it was taller than any other building in sight. Statues of the lesser gods adorned its outer walls. She recognized them all of course. She had to admit, the sculptor had done a great job. The statue of Undyne was particularly impressive, it showed her battle form, wearing her armor and wielding her favored spear. Inside were the traditional statues of the gods who formed the royal court. Gerson and Gaster each had a statue here, but they were still nothing compared to the statues of Asgore and Toriel. And, standing between them was a statue of her favorite god, and sibling, Asriel. Not only that, but the temple's shrine was also dedicated to the God of Hope. The sight of someone finally giving Asriel a shrine made her eyes water a bit. Before the elder could say anything, she rushed over to the shrine and knelt before it, her head bowed.

"Thank you for the blessings you have given these people. By the way, come visit me soon, ok?"

She stood up and turned around, noticing the elder had caught up with her. "The temple is beautiful. I can hardly imagine the work that must've gone into this."

"It was a lot of work, and many of the people were upset at the sacrifices necessary to complete it, but it was worth it. After all, we have much to thank the gods for," the elder replied.

"I glad to hear you say that," Chara replied. " _I guess that explains all of the dirty looks. But don't the people get that building something like this would bring them the gods' favor?"_ she thought to herself. "Well, like you said, I am quite tired from my journey. I think I'll go get settled in my room and I'll join you again for the feast."

"Of course, Lady Chara."

"Please, just Chara is fine."

"Very well, I shall come retrieve you when the preparations are ready."

Chara glanced around her room smiling. It was spacious, but not too luxurious, perfect for an acolyte. She started to put her things away when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"What's up, Chara?"

"Asriel!" she shouted, turning and running to him, giving him a big hug. It was at this point she realized he was at least a foot taller than the last time she had seen him. "Look at you! You've grown!"

He blushed slightly before saying, "Yeah, I guess I have haven't I? Anyways, I got your message, so I figured I'd drop by to see you."

"I knew you'd come," she said, smiling as he blushed again. "So, how is everyone upstairs? Is mom still making those butterscotch-cinnamon pies?"

"Yep! And they're still as delicious as ever," he replied. "But yeah, everyone's doing fine. Dad's been busy with king stuff and Gaster and Gerson play chess every day in the palace. Alphys finally got her lab created, but Undyne keeps breaking stuff whenever she visits."

"Yeah, that sounds like Undyne all right," Chara said. "Well, I'm glad they're all doing well." After a few moments, her smile faded and she asked, "Hey, do you ever talk to Asgore about his plans for us?"

"Um, no, not really. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Its nothing too serious, its just that there are so many humans now, that I'm having a hard time visiting all of them. When I first started, I would visit a village two or maybe three times a year. Now, its more like two or three years between each visit. I worried that if this keeps up, I won't be able to fulfill my duties properly."

Asriel frowned and thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I can see your point. Don't worry about it, I'll ask dad about it when I get back home. I'm sure he'll figure something out."

"Thanks, lil' bro."

"Hey, I'm not even a year younger than you!"

"But you are younger!"

"Hmph, well I was going to go get you a piece of pie, but now I'm not so sure."

"I take it back! I take it back!"

After an hour of talking and catching up, Chara bid goodbye to Asriel and started to plan out her visit. She couldn't wait to get started.

If only she knew that it would be her last.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was a dark and cold night as he flew through the air. Not that such things really mattered to the God of Magic. He was all but immune to anything the human realm could throw at him. " _I just hope that's still the case,"_ he thought to himself. Grimacing, he recalled what he had felt the night before. It was one of his duties to scan the human realm and fix any inconsistencies with the laws of reality he had set forth. It was actually quite a boring job. When they had created the world, the gods had known what they were doing. So far, he had yet to detect anything that could present a danger, and he had assumed that he never would. Then, last night night, as he was meditating, he sensed something strange. He had felt a presence that was just… unnatural. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he was sure that it didn't belong in this world. That, in itself, was troubling. If whatever he had felt really existed, it would mean that something had been created that wasn't part of the world he had helped build. The only explanation he could think of was that one of the gods had gone rouge and started to create without his or Asgore's knowledge. The thought of a traitor amongst the ranks of the gods was quite unsettling. He shrugged off those dark thoughts, as he was nearing his destination. Hopefully, last night had just been a fluke of some kind, and this was just a false alarm.

He arrived at the village in the area where he had sensed the anomaly. It was a relatively small village on the edge of the lands the humans had settled. Looking around with both his physical and magical senses, he saw and felt nothing out of the ordinary. He flew a little further and discovered a small hill where the local humans had set up a shrine. As he neared it, he felt the same presence he had felt the night before. It filled him with unease. He landed at the bottom of the hill and made his way up. At the top he found something he wasn't prepared for. Standing in front of the shrine was a human, an average human. There was no mistake though, this human was the source of the dark presence. It didn't make any sense. Humans were a part of the natural order, how could one of them be the anomaly he had sensed?

As he looked on, the human raised one arm and from his hand a tendril of pure darkness shot forth and wrapped itself around the shrine, and promptly began crushing it. Shocked from what he was witnessing, Gaster could only watch as the human reduced the shrine to rubble in a matter of seconds. Quickly regaining his composure, he cast several spells at the human, binding him in place and preventing him from moving. Despite this, the human didn't make a sound. With a flick of his hand, Gaster turned the human around him, so he could see him face to face. That was when he noticed what was different. Physically, the human looked completely normal, except for two things. First, there was a faint aura of shadow that seemed to pulsate from the human's body. It seemed to absorb the light around him, making his surroundings dimmer. The second difference was the human's face. He wore a smile that was wide but at the same time conveyed menace and hatred. And then, there were the eyes. His eyes were completely black, not a sliver of color to be seen, and darkness seemed to dance around them.

After observing all these things, he simply said, "Though you look like one, you are not human. Who are you?"

The human simply rolled his head back and laughed. It was a sound that filled Gaster with dread. _**"What? You don't recognize me?"**_

Gaster knew that voice. It was a voice that had barely spoken the last time he had seen its owner, but is was one he would never forget.

"You… it can't be."

The human merely laughed harder. _**"Did you miss me?"**_ was all he said.

"What's this about Gaster? Do you know how late it is?" asked an irritated Asgore as he strode into his throne room. Gerson and Toriel had already arrived and were sitting at the council table.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty, but I'm afraid I've discovered something that needs your immediate attention," Gaster replied.

"Alright then. Go ahead and tell me," the king said.

Gaster bowed, and began his tale. "Last night I was scanning the world as is my duty when I sensed an anomaly, something that shouldn't exist. Tonight I traveled to the human realm to seek out this anomaly to make sure it wasn't just a fluke on my part. Well, I found it on a small hill outside a remote village. The source of the anomaly I detected was a human."

"A human? That's ridiculous!" Toriel said.

"That's what I thought at first. However, this was no ordinary human. They were… corrupted. With black eyes and a shadowy aura, I watched as this human destroyed a shrine with dark power."

"Did you manage to stop this human?" Asgore asked intently.

"Yes," Gaster replied, "Though unsettling, and possessing powers no human should, he wasn't very strong. I captured him with my spells and brought him to my lab for analysis. What I found was shocking. The source of the corruption in this human… was Chaos."

Silence filled the room. After a few moments, Asgore finally spoke. "Chaos. Are you sure?"

"Yes," Gaster replied solemnly. "When the human spoke, Chaos's voice came from his lips. Also, during my analysis, I confirmed the presence of Chaos's power in the human's body. As I mentioned before, the corruption of the human was still at a low stage and it wasn't difficult to extract the darkness that had invaded him. Once I did that, the human returned to his normal state, without any memory of his actions. I wiped his memories of his time in our realm and sent him home. As for the darkness I extracted from him, I've placed it in a secure place in my lab."

"But… Chaos was destroyed!" Toriel protested. "We defeated him decades ago. And even if he was alive, why would he bother corrupting a human? Surely he would have set his sights on a god."

Asgore pondered what had been said, and turned to the last person at the table. "You've been quiet so far, Gerson. What do you make of all this?"

Gerson paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "We never had any proof that Chaos was completely destroyed. In fact, I'm not sure he can be destroyed. Not by us at least."

"What do you mean?" asked Asgore.

"I mean that Chaos is an entity that is not of our world, our reality. Wherever he came from, most likely an alternate dimension or universe, it is a realm outside of our control. We defeated him, and cast him back from whence he came, but I doubt our powers could completely destroy him."

"But if he doesn't belong in this world, then how and why is he here?" asked Toriel.

"Just look at his name, Your Majesty. We gave him the name "Chaos" because his only purpose was to create chaos in our world through destruction. I believe our universe came to his attention when he sensed the life you had created. He came simply to destroy and make chaos, the opposite of order. Perhaps that's how he sustains himself. As for how he came to be here… that is a more sensitive issue."

Asgore's eyes narrowed. "So you know how he forced his way into our world?"

"Yes," replied Gerson. "But I'm afraid Her Majesty is not going to like what I have to say."

This time, it was Toriel's eyes that narrowed. "Go on," she said.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," replied Gerson. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "As I said before, Chaos seeks only to disrupt order by destroying our world. However, he cannot simply insert himself into our reality whenever he pleases. He requires a gateway of sorts. Chaos is the polar opposite of order, but these states are more accurately depicted as balance and imbalance. As long as our universe has cosmic balance, Chaos is trapped in whatever void he came from. It is when our world falls into a strong enough state of imbalance that he is able to creep through."

"What do you mean by imbalance? Specifically, I mean," asked Gaster.

"Unfortunately, imbalance can take many forms. Basically, whenever something defies the natural order we've established, it creates imbalance. However, in this case the cause is slightly different. The cause stems from a complete and total imbalance, the abundance of life in our world."

"What!?" Toirel blurted. She was starting to dread where Gerson was headed.

"I am sorry to say this, Your Majesty, but your creations are filling the mortal realm to the bursting point. They have been, even before you created the humans. Though your creations are not gods in their own right, they are immortal like us, and each possesses its own soul, however small or large. The mortal realm was never meant to support the existence of an indefinite number of souls. The large number of souls present stretched the boundaries of our reality to the point where Chaos was able to come bursting into it. I assume the only reason we haven't seen any more of him is that his defeat left him severely weakened. This is also likely why he chose a human as a vessel instead of attempting to control a god. At any rate, the problem is actually worse with your creation of humans. Humans have wills far stronger than any other life. Their immortality has caused some of them to begin attempting to challenge fate. They've grown apathetic and complacent with life. Some have even sunk into depression. I believe it was the overwhelming negative emotions, combined with the idea that a human could challenge the laws of reality we set forth that allowed Chaos to slip a portion of his power through to corrupt the human you found, Gaster."

"So we have a problem," said Asgore. "I assume that you have thought of a solution?"

"I have, Your Majesty. In order to keep Chaos out of our world, we need something to balance out the abundance of life. What we need, is to create death."

Toriel exploded out of her seat. "How can you even suggest such a thing!" she roared. "I will not accept bringing death to my children!"

"Your Majesty, I realize this upsets you, but its the truth. Death will bring balance to our world. It will prevent the abundance of life from breaking down our reality, it will teach humans to value their lives, and prevent them from becoming complacent. This will keep them safe from the threat of corruption."

"So, what? You keep them safe only to have them die!?" she retorted. "I refuse to condone this!"

Gaster remained silent throughout the exchange, and now he glanced over at the king. He saw the expression on Asgore's face and knew that the decision had already been made. The question would be what Toriel would do when he announced his decision.

"Tori…" started Asgore.

"Do not 'Tori' me, Dreemurr!" shouted Toriel. "You can't possibly be considering this!"

Asgore sighed. Gerson hadn't been wrong when he said she wasn't going to like what he told her. "Tori, we cannot allow Chaos to come back into this world. If he starts controlling the humans like slaves, he could absorb their souls and become far more powerful than he was when we defeated him. If that happens, all of what we have accomplished will be for naught. If creating Death will bring balance and security to the world, then it is what I will do."

Toriel stared at him with disbelief on her face. Then, with tears falling down her face she whispered, "Then you are no husband of mine. I am leaving this place to dwell among my children." Then she stormed out of the chamber without another word.

Asgore watched her go, his own eyes glistening with unshed tears. Then he turned to Gerson and said, "Begin the necessary preparations to create a God of Death. If you need me, I will be in my personal chamber." With that, he left the room.

Gerson bowed, then addressed Gaster, "Old friend, as the God of Magic, it will fall to you to create this new god. I will aid you with the preparations."

"Of course," replied Gaster. "Let us begin immediately."

It took them three days to finish the necessary preparations. Magic circles and signs were drawn, stardust was gathered, and the incantation was written. The process of creating a new god was something that Gaster had always known was possible, but he had never bothered to try it before. It was a complex ritual that required enormous amounts of energy, so much so that he had to meditate and store power for an entire day just to perform the rite. Besides, creating sentient beings was Toriel's domain anyway. Nevertheless, this was something he had to do to preserve the world they had all fought to build, and he would not fail. The time had come. He sat in front of the center of the complex diagram that had been drawn on the floor. Gerson and Asgore stood several feet behind him, ready to intervene if something went wrong. Gaster concentrated his power and drew forth the energy he had been storing in himself. He gathered and focused it on the stardust before him.

"Hear me," he intoned. "I beseech you, come forth Judge of the Fallen, Guardian of the Underworld, Reaper of Souls. Come forth and bring balance to this realm. Hear me, God of Death! Come forth!"

As he spoke the last words, he released all his energy at once and the stardust gleamed with light before scattering outward, filling the entire diagram with mist. Slowly, the stardust returned to the center where it began to take physical form. Gaster stood, for his part was complete. The trio of gods present watched the new god come into their world. When the mist finally lifted, they were surprised to see that there was not one, but two beings standing before them. They resembled the internal skeletons of humans, and each one seemed to have a few of Gaster's features. They were both clothed in pitch black robes and each carried a scythe on its back. One was tall and somewhat skinny, the other short and a little stocky. The short one's left eye glowed with a faint blue light, while the tall one's right eye glowed orange. Observing them, Gerson chuckled to himself. "Tell me, have you secretly wanted a child of your own, Gaster?"

Surprised Gaster responded, "Well, yes. How did you know?"

"The creation of a new god is a process you must devote your entire being to. Your emotions were tied to the ritual just like your magical energy was. It seems your desire for a child led the ritual to produce two gods instead of one."

"Excuse me? Gods?" said the shorter skeleton, speaking for the first time.

Gerson nodded. "Yes, we are all gods, and you two were just created as the new Gods of Death."

"Just created, huh?" replied the skeleton. "Guess that explains why I don't have any memories of the past."

"Wowie! We're gods? That's amazing!" said the taller skeleton.

Asgore stepped forward and addressed the pair. "Yes, you are the Gods of Death, created to bring balance to Life and keep this world from falling into ruin. However, we can discuss all of that later. First, let me welcome you to our realm. I am Asgore, king of the gods, and these are my trusted advisors: Gerson, God of Wisdom, and Gaster, God of Magic as well as your creator. Tell me, do you have names?"

The short one shrugged and said, "Name's Sans."

The tall one replied, "And I am the great Papyrus!"

"I am pleased to meet you Sans and Papyrus. Come, we have much to discuss," said Asgore. He turned and began walking towards the main hall of the palace. Gerson and Gaster followed at his heels. The two skeleton brothers exchanged glances and hurried after them.

And so, Death had entered the world.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Let me get this straight," said Sans several hours later. "There's some sort of really bad and powerful dude named Chaos that wants to destroy us all, and you created me and Pap here to stop him from doing that?"

"Essentially, yes," replied Gerson. "With your creation, our world now has death in it, which should balance out life and keep our universe stable."

Sans sat back in his chair and contemplated everything he'd been told. After eating his first meal and shown around the king's palace, he and his brother had listened to the three gods explain the situation and why they were here. There were a few things he didn't quite understand fully, not to mention several questions he wanted to ask, but he'd come to the conclusion that they were telling him the truth. He couldn't think of a single reason why these people would bring death into their world for no reason.

"Alright. So if Pap and I are supposed to help keep the balance, what are we supposed to do?" he asked.

This time, it was Asgore who answered him. "It will be you and your brother's duty to reap the souls of humans as they die. This will keep the balance of our world stable, and should prevent Chaos from gaining a foothold in our reality."

"Alright, so how do we do that?"

"I will show you," Gaster said. "Come, I shall show you the realm that you will rule over."

He stood and beckoned them to follow. When all three were a few feet from table he turned to them and said, "I was the one who created you, so in addition to your own unique abilities as Gods of Death, you have also inherited a few of my own powers. One of them is the power of teleportation. You will be able to use this power to quickly travel to the humans who have reached the end of their appointed time. Be careful though, it expends a great deal of energy. Overuse it, and you will have to wait till your magic has replenished itself before traveling again. For now, we will use it to quickly travel to the Underworld."

"Underworld?" asked Papyrus.

"Yes, that is the name of the realm where human souls will dwell after they have died. Please, stand close to me."

They stood about an arms length away, and Gaster's cloak flew back and enveloped them. One moment, they were in the king's council chamber, the next they were somewhere else. Sans looked at his surroundings. There wasn't much to look at. They appeared to be in a cave of some sort, but that was all he could tell.

"Nice place," he said aloud.

Gaster smiled. "The ritual we performed accomplished more than just bringing you into existence. It also created a third realm in the cosmic structure. This Underworld is your domain. It doesn't look like much, but it is yours to shape as you see fit. This is where you will keep the souls of the humans you reap. It was designed to hold an indefinite number of souls, so it should remain stable. When a human dies, you simply seek them out, reap their soul and bring it back here to be judged."

"Judged? Who does the judging?" Sans asked.

"You, of course. You posses the ability to review a person's memories to see what kind of life they led. If you find that they were virtuous and low in sinful deeds, you may allow them to enjoy a peaceful existence here. If they chose to follow the path of evil, it will be your duty to punish them accordingly."

"Okay, that all makes sense. How will we know when a human needs reaping?"

"That ability has been given to your brother. All humans now have a designated life span, but I suspect not all of them will survive to die of old age. Whenever a human life is destined to die, your brother will see their name up to a day in advance. Once he has that information, one or both of you will find the human and reap them. As the Gods of Death, once you know a human's name you will be able to envision them and you can use your teleportation powers to travel to them.

"Got it," Sans said.

"I will do my best!" Papyrus said.

"I'm sure you will. Well, I should get going. I have my own duties to attend to. Know that you are both considered full gods and are welcome to visit the heavens any time you wish. Also, though I was the one who created you, you don't have to address me as your father if you don't want to. But if you ever have anything you wish to discuss, you need only ask."

At that, Sans gave him a smile. "I'll hold you to it… old man."

Gaster shook his head and smiled back. "Until the next time we meet." And with a flutter of his cape, he was gone.

"I can't wait to start shaping our new home! Imagine what we could build here!" exclaimed Papyrus.

"Heh, I'm sure you'll do a fine job remodeling the place, bro," Sans replied.

"You mean you don't want to help?"

"Designing isn't really my thing."

"Sans! You lazybones! You're just trying to get out of work!"

"Nah, I just think you'll do a better job without me."

"Oh, of course you-" Papyrus cut himself off, staring intently at something. Sans raised an eye socket, wondering what was wrong.

"Uh, Pap? You ok?" he asked.

"Of course I am! I just saw the name of our first reaping!"

"Already? Well, what's the name?"

"Her name is Chara. Chara Dreemurr. Death by old age."

Sans closed his eyes, and thought about the name. He saw a young girl in a village, talking to several other villagers. Did Papyrus mess up? He couldn't see how someone so young was supposed to die of old age. Sans thought about it for a moment. He better take this one himself, and make sure this wasn't a fluke or something. Besides, he doubted his brother was going to very good at this reaping business. He might be doing Papyrus a disservice, but his brother was a very kind and somewhat naive person. Better let him stay here for now while he went to see how this whole thing would go.

"Pap, why don't you stay here and work on making some changes. I'll head out and take our first customer."

"Ok, Sans! Good luck!" his brother replied.

 _"Not that I'll need it,"_ Sans thought. After all, he was a god. Nothing should go wrong.

He found the girl in the village from his vision. She was quite the humble young girl. Seemed that she was some sort of priestess or something. He couldn't she a single thing wrong with her though. He focused his power in his left eye, the one that held his magic. He turned his gaze upon her and was surprised when he saw her age over her head. She might look like a child, but she was old, really old. She was older than everybody else around her. She also had a faint aura of magic around her, a spell of some kind. The spell was probably why she looked so young.

" _Guess this is what they were talking about. She's a child, but she's lived way longer than she should have. She's supposed to die of old age, but she won't due to the spell keeping her young. That's imbalance if I ever saw it. This'll be tricky though. Since she won't die naturally, I'll have to do the deed myself. Glad I left Papyrus at home."_

He spent a few more seconds watching her before he melted back into the shadows. He should wait until she was alone before he struck. If he did it now, things could get messy. He hated messy, because someone always had to clean up afterwards. He didn't mind waiting though. He had all the time in the world now.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chara walked into her room tired and frustrated. Today hadn't exactly been a good day. She had spent the day in the town square preaching to the people, and things hadn't gone well. Only a minority of the villagers were reverent to her messages. Most of the townsfolk had lost faith in the gods and were committing outright blasphemy. It was a situation that she had never encountered before. The things that they said were just wrong. That they didn't owe the gods anything, and that people shouldn't bother giving them respect. Their words nearly drove Chara to an angry fit, and anger was not something that came easy to her. Some of the more devout townspeople were less restrained. A few punches were thrown before Chara stepped in and kept things from devolving into a riot.

She plopped down on her bed in exasperation. She had never felt like this before. The people of the world had always treated her kindly and with respect. When did everyone lose their faith? Even if they decided that the gods didn't exist, why were they treating her with such scorn? For the first time in her life, Chara had felt hatred towards another person. It wasn't something she was proud of, but she couldn't deny it either. The things that they said to her had hurt deeply. What possessed them to hurl such blasphemies at all she had ever loved? Why couldn't they see how dangerous such talk was? The gods, as a general rule, weren't cruel, but Chara was sure that some of them would take offense at what these people had said. Last time she checked, the gods determined what was right and what was wrong, and also dispensed justice when they saw fit. She shuddered thinking about some of the punishments the gods would be capable of. She didn't want anyone to have to suffer in such a way.

She sighed, thinking about how miserable this visit was turning out to be. Maybe she could get Asriel down here for some encouragement. She turned around and knelt before the bed to say her evening prayers. She was just about to start when she heard footsteps. That ticked her off. She didn't have a lot of rules, but one of them was to never disturb her, or any acolyte for that matter, when she was praying or communing with the gods. She had made that point abundantly clear to the elder. She turned around, ready to berate whoever had dared to-

She froze, because it wasn't another human that had walked into her room. Before her stood a being clothed entirely in black with a large scythe on its back. For some reason, she was filled entirely with fear from just being in his presence. She could barely make out a skull beneath his hood, along with a faint blue light. This wasn't a human, which left only one possibility. She steadied herself and said, "Greetings. I am Chara, the Acolyte of Faith. I don't believe we've met. May I ask your name?"

The god raised his head in surprise. "You can see me?" he asked.

"Of course. My siblings and I are the only humans capable of seeing the gods at all times," she replied. " _Something's wrong, he should've known that,_ " she said in her head.

The god sighed. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting this. Since you can see me, and you're obviously someone special, I suppose I'll answer your questions. The name's Sans, and I am the God of Death. Chara Dreemurr, your time has come."

Chara simply stared. God of Death? She had never been introduced to this god. For that matter, she had never seen anyone die. Humans were immortal, weren't they? Her legs started shaking. "Death? You mean you're here to kill me?" she asked.

Sans sighed again. "In a manner of speaking, yes. You are destined to die this day, and it is my job to reap your soul."

Chara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her, destined to die? But she was the Acolyte of Faith! If she died here, who would bring the gods' messages to the people? What did she do to deserve this fate? Was this punishment for failing her mission of teaching the people? What would death even be like? Now, her whole body was shaking.

Sans took his scythe off of his back. At its sight, Chara stepped back a few paces. " _Great,_ " he thought. " _She's going to make this difficult._ "

"Please," he said aloud. "Don't struggle. It will all be over soon."

Fear consumed her whole body. Chara wasn't ready to die. She couldn't die here. Sans swooped forward slicing at her with his scythe. She rolled to one side, but the blade nicked her in the arm. She cried out in pain. This was a pain she had never felt before, and it burned. She cried out, "Mom! Asriel! Somebody help me!"

Hearing her desperate plea, Sans grimaced. " _Better make this as quick as possible."_ His eye and scythe erupted in blue flames.

Chara felt a magic force take hold of her body, and she was suddenly slammed into the nearest wall. She was crying openly now. " _No. No no no._ " Sans closed the distance and raised his scythe. " _No. I can't die here. I won't die here!_ " she thought. She mustered every ounce of determination and will she had, but all she could do was raise her head and look the God of Death in the eye.

Sans was halfway through his swing when he saw her eyes. They were full of pain, sorrow, and denial. But there was something else. Something about those eyes that shouted, "I will not die!" The strength of her determination was something he had never seen before. He hesitated. Was this really necessary? Could he spare this human? He shook his head. No, this had to be done. He had to do his part to keep the world's balance. "Nothing personal, kiddo," he said. The scythe started forward again.

"What are you doing!" he heard someone shout behind him. A second later a blast of magic hit him from behind, throwing off his swing. The scythe cut across the girls chest and she screamed in pain. The magic that hit him had temporarily cleansed his scythe of the flames that brought death on contact. Still, the wound was a mortal one, but she wouldn't die quickly. Sans whirled around to face his attacker. He was starting to get angry, and he set his scythe aflame once more. Before him stood a goat-like creature that had to be another god. No mortal magic would have been able to faze him. He stared at this god, whose hands were surrounded by flames as well, of a bright glowing gold.

"I am Asriel, God of Hope and prince of the realm! What are you doing to my sister!?"

"My job, God of Hope. Now go home before you do something you'll regret," Sans replied.

"Never!" Asriel shouted, and he charged.

Sighing, Sans quickly sidestepped Asriel's attack and struck with his scythe. The blow took Asriel full on in the back, and the blade stuck fast. Sans channeled a burst of magic down his weapon and surged it into Asriel's body. The blast tore a hole almost a foot long across his body and threw him across the room where he landed next to Chara, his body dissolving into dust.

" _Sorry about that, Hope. But you're a god, a true immortal. That probably hurt a lot, but you'll reform your essence in a little bit. Maybe one day you'll forgive me,"_ Sans thought. " _Now, to finish the job._ "

Chara had witnessed the whole confrontation from where she lay dying. True to his name, Asriel's appearance had filled her with a spark of hope. That hope had just been brutally ripped away, along with her best friend and brother. The God of Death turned towards her and raised his scythe once more. She hated him. That thought burned in her mind as she watched him come. He came to kill her, an acolyte who had served the gods faithfully. He hadn't even made it quick, just unbearably painful. To top it all off, he had hurt and killed her family, the only god that cared enough to come to her aid.

" _Why? Why me? Why Asriel? None of this was supposed to happen!_ " she screamed silently in her mind.

" _ **The gods have betrayed you…**_ **"**

They had. She and her siblings had been promised a world with a happy life. No one had said anything about death. And when she had cried out to the gods, only one of them came.

" _Was it all a lie? Did they really care about us? About me?"_

 _"_ _ **They never cared about you…**_ "

" _They never cared about me. If they did, they wouldn't have sent Death to kill me. And now I'm going to die here."_

 _"_ _ **Determination…**_ "

" _No. If I stay determined, I can cheat death. I can survive."_

She felt her body growing stronger. As if a unseen force was filling her with power. She stood and faced the God of Death, clenching her fists. Her choice was made.

" _I will live. I will grow strong. Stronger than any god. And I will have…my…_ _ **REVENGE!**_ "

Sans walked over then paused as the girl stood, her head slightly bowed. Man, the girl was tough. He didn't think she had enough strength to do anything. He readied his scythe, then noticed that something was off. The girl no longer had fear in her eyes. Now, they were replaced with anger and hate. She stood there, her fists clenched, and Sans got the sinking feeling she was about to try something. Something he wouldn't like. He lunged forward, preparing to end it, when she raised her head. She was… smiling? Then, without warning, she let loose a hellish scream and an explosion of magic that forced him back several feet. Driving his scythe into the ground to steady himself, he looked up and saw shadows wrapping around the girl, covering her whole body. Then, they parted, gathering in a pool at her feet. She looked at him with pitch black eyes and a wide smile and spoke:

" _ **I called out to the Gods. But the wrong ones came.**_ "

Before he could do anything, the shadows swallowed her, leaving behind nothing but a pool of dust covered blood.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sans couldn't believe what had just happened. The reaping hadn't gone according to plan, but he never expected that the girl would just up and disappear. Besides, what was with those shadows? If she had that power the whole time, why didn't she use it right away? He frowned, gathering his thoughts. " _No, whatever she just did, it wasn't something she had hidden away. There was too much fear in the beginning, too much uncertainty. Something happened just now that gave her that power. The question is what it was."_

He paced around the room, thinking furiously. She had changed right before she disappeared. Those pitch black eyes and that scream were proof of that. Was this what happened when a soul wasn't reaped in time? As Death, he was supposed to bring souls to the Underworld so they could rest in peace, assuming they were decent people in life, of course. Did a soul become like that when they aren't guided to the afterlife?

He stopped for a moment. " _Come to think of it, Chara wasn't a normal human either. She had an energy around her, no doubt that spell keeping her young. I doubt I'll find any other humans whose deaths will need my personal intervention. But what was so special about her in the first place? What did she say she was? An acolyte or something?"_

He let a long sigh. This was something he needed to ask Gaster or the king about. Although, they probably couldn't answer all of his questions. But first, he needed to find Chara and fix this mess. He was certain that what ever had happened to her was a result of his hesitation, his failure. If he had just reaped her when he had the chance none of this would have happened. He closed his eyes and thought of her name and image, searching for her.

But nothing happened. He could only see a dark void in front of him. What was going on? She was still clearly alive, how come he couldn't track her? He focused harder and an image came forth, but it was just the room he was standing in. His vision focused on the pool of blood she had left behind. " _This isn't right,"_ he thought. " _They only thing I can find is what remained of her body. But if she's not dead, then that means she's gone somewhere outside of my perception. Either that or she's figured out a way to block me._ " Neither explanation meant anything good. No human, even one blessed with eternal youth, should be capable of such feats.

" _Something's not right here. I need to find out what's going on."_ He pulled his hood over his head and disappeared.

He arrived back in the Underworld to discover that Papyrus had been quite busy while he was gone. There was a decent sized house backed up against the wall, complete with a garden and a storage shed. There was also the start of looked like a huge gate that would lead into the deeper part of the Underworld. Papyrus himself was standing before the gate and as Sans watched, materials seemed to appear out of nowhere and settled into their place. Sensing his presence, Papyrus turned and teleported over to his brother.

"Sans! Welcome back!" he half shouted.

"Thanks, bro. Did you do all this?" he replied.

"Yes! All I have to do is imagine what I want, and it just happens! It's a power worthy of the great Papyrus!"

" _Gaster wasn't kidding when he said we could shape this place as we please,_ " Sans thought. Out loud he said, "You did a great job bro, I'm impressed."

"Of course I did a great job! What about you? Did the reaping go well?"

"Yeah, it went fine. Think I'll wait till tomorrow to do the judging though."

Papyrus nodded. "Good! I have good news, Sans! I have seen and written down the list of humans that will die tomorrow. I put list in your room. Tomorrow, we can go out and reap them together!"

"Right. Uh, do you mind if I take the list myself tomorrow? I'd like to get a little more practice. Besides, you could use the time to finish your project over there."

Papyrus thought about it for a moment. "Very well, I shall stay down here tomorrow. I think you'll like what I'm building Sans! I can't wait to get your reaction."

"I'm sure I'll be amazed bro. Listen, I'm gonna head upstairs to chat with Gaster. I'll see you in a little bit."

"Ok! Enjoy your talk!" his brother replied.

" _Heh. I don't think that's going to happen,_ " he thought, and he teleported out of the room.

Gaster's house looked almost identical to the one Papyrus had built in the Underworld. " _Guess we have more of him in us than I thought,_ " Sans thought as he climbed the steps. He was about to knock, but the door opened before he even touched it. Gaster stood there with a smile. "You know, I'm capable of sensing another's presence for miles. You don't have to bother with all the formal practices of paying me a visit. I find them rather tiring actually," he said.

Sans returned the smile. "I'll keep that in mind," he replied. His smile faded. "We need to talk."

Gaster nodded. "Come in."

The interior of the home was about as normal as it got. It was well furnished, but nothing was too showy or dramatic. Gaster walked over to a recliner and settled down. "Please," he said. "Have a seat."

Sans made his way over to a large couch occupying the side of the room and slouched on it. After a few moments he said, "Something's gone wrong."

Gaster frowned. "Wrong? With what?"

"A lot of stuff really," Sans answered him. "Soon after you left, Pap got the name of our first reaping. It was a girl named Chara. Chara Dreemurr. And she was to die from old age."

He paused, waiting for a response. Gaster's face had gone still when he mentioned Chara's name. "I see," he said slowly.

" _So there is something special about her. Interesting._ " Clearing his throat, he continued, "So I did what you told me and found her in a village. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that she was just a child. I thought that maybe Pap had screwed up or something, so I took a look at her age. She was older than anybody else in the whole town. Seems _somebody_ had put some sort of eternal youth spell on her. So, there I was with a human who was supposed to die, but wasn't going to. The only way to deal with this situation was to directly intervene."

Now, Gaster perked up. "I hadn't thought about that," he said.

"Obviously not," Sans replied. "So here's the first thing I want to know. You know about this girl, Gaster, and I can only think of one god that would be casting eternal youth spells on people. So what was so special about this girl that she was granted such a gift. And why did no one bother to tell me about her?"

Sans hadn't even raised his voice, but the tension in the room had risen significantly. Gaster took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I know of her. And while I wasn't the one who cast that spell, I did help the person who did. It seems we have more unforeseen consequences on our hands."

"Well, I'm afraid I still don't see what you're seeing. So why don't you fill me in?" Sans replied.

"Of course," Gaster said. "You have a right to know, and I'm sorry it didn't occur to me to inform you earlier. Basically, the girl you saw was the first human that was ever created. Chara and her six siblings are the only humans that have walked in our realm. They were made the chosen acolytes of gods to carry our messages to the people. They were charged with teaching the rest of the human race about the gods, virtues, and what was right and wrong. Chara herself was made the Acolyte of Faith, effectively the leader of the acolytes. In time, Asgore had planned to establish an entire church hierarchy with those seven at the center. It looks like that won't happen now."

He paused, letting Sans consider what he'd told him. "Alright," he said. "That all makes sense, but why the eternal youth?"

"At the time they were created, the concept of death hadn't yet been proposed to balance out life. Up until you were created, humans were immortal. They would mature, but they would never die of old age. Asgore wanted the acolytes to have something that would make them stand out. Retaining their youthful bodies seemed to be the best way to do that."

"So that's when you put that spell on them?" Sans asked.

"Not exactly. While I am the God of Magic, the use of magic is something that any god is capable of, as I'm sure you've already figured out. I helped her work the spell out, but it was the Goddess of Life who gave the acolytes eternal youth."

"Goddess of Life?" Sans asked.

"Of course," replied Gaster. "It doesn't make much sense for there to be a God of Death without a God, or in this case, Goddess, of Life to also exist."

"Guess I haven't thought about it much," Sans muttered. He shook himself, then said, "Whatever, the point is that the spell has royally messed things up. I had to take a direct hand in her death, and that's when everything went wrong."

"Excuse me?" Gaster asked. "I'm afraid I don't see where you're going with this. Surely reaping the girl, even if you did have to kill her with your own hand, shouldn't have been a problem."

"Heh, that's what you'd think. It didn't go quite as planned. I'm not entirely sure what happened at the end myself."

Gaster sighed. "Very well, tell me exactly what happened."

A few minutes later, after Sans had recounted the confrontation between himself, Chara, and Asriel, Gaster's face had gone completely pale.

"Are you absolutely sure she had black eyes?" he asked.

"Yep. Dark as night," Sans replied.

Gaster sat in silence for a few moments, then said, "I'm afraid the situation is more dire than I had originally thought. To think that Chara of all people could be corrupted."

"Excuse me?" replied Sans. "What do you mean by corrupted?"

Gaster sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Do you remember when Asgore, Gerson, and I explained the reasons for your creation to you?"

"Yeah, I mean it literally just happened a few hours ago. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but you needed me and Pap to balance out life in order to keep this Chaos dude from messing everything up. Something like that, right?"

"More or less. Chaos doesn't exist in the same realm as we do and requires a gateway of sorts to enter ours. We came to the decision to create death when I encountered a human who had been corrupted, possessed really, by Chaos. He spoke through the human's mouth and was able to wield his power through him."

"Sounds dangerous," Sans replied.

"Yes and no. Alone, one corrupted human doesn't pose much of a threat, to the gods at least. However, we soon realized that any human could be corrupted under the right circumstances. With enough enslaved humans, Chaos would be able to break through completely. You see, when a human is consumed with extreme negative emotion and defiance towards the gods' established order, Chaos can slip through and corrupt them. I'm not sure if he can force himself on them, or if they have to choose to let him in, but the point is that its possible."

"Okay, what does death have to do with all of this?"

"The humans had started to become apathetic and even depressed due to their immortality. The human I found had simply decided there wasn't any point to his life, which led to depression and eventually corruption. We brought you and your brother into this world to give greater meaning to mortal life as well as provide cosmic balance. None of us foresaw this particular situation though. It should have occurred to me that some humans would definitely try to defy the death we had imposed on them. For that matter, we should have informed Chara and her siblings. It seems we've messed up in a colossal manner."

"Yeah, I'd say so. So you think that Chara was corrupted because she wanted to cheat death?" Sans said.

"More or less. Try to see it from her perspective. She had served us faithfully her entire life, became accustomed to immortality, and all of a sudden a stranger god shows up and tries to kill her. She likely viewed it as a betrayal. The part with Asriel probably didn't help either."  
"Yeah, maybe I should have tried to be a little more diplomatic with him. I was caught in the moment though."

"Don't worry about it. He was away when we created you, so he didn't know anything about the situation. The king and I will explain everything to him when he reforms and returns. In the meantime, I think you should return to your duties and keep attempting to track Chara. I'm not sure if you'll be able to though. It's likely that Chaos has given her enough power to prevent you from finding her, but its worth a try. In the meantime, I will consult with Gerson and see if I can't find her with my own magic. You need to reap her soul as soon as possible, we can take steps to cleanse her after that. What matters now is that we keep Chaos from gaining any more ground in our reality."

"Alright, sounds like a plan," Sans replied. "I'll head back to the Underworld then. I'll let you know if I discover anything else."

"I wish you luck in your endeavors," Gaster said.

"Heh, you too. See you around old man," Sans said. Then he was gone.

Gaster sighed again. " _I sense a storm coming. I just hope we can survive this time._ "


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

" _Where am I?_ " he thought. It was dark, wherever he was. He couldn't see a thing. That should have terrified him, but it didn't. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to feel fear. He felt empty, as empty as the darkness surrounding him. Slowly, he felt the darkness change. It receded, revealing that he was in a room of some sort. He didn't know where he was or why he was here. Questions stabbed at his mind:

" _How did I get here?"_

 _"Why can't I remember anything?_ "

" _What am I?_ "

" _Who am I?_ "

His head ached. He tried to focus his thoughts, to remember anything from his past, but he was met with hazy images that weren't clear. Looking down at himself, he saw that he was a… flower? Yes, flower, that was the word. Why was he a flower? Looking around the room, he saw that he was alone.

" _Alone… why am I alone? Why am I like this?_ "

The questions just lingered in his mind with no answers presenting themselves. Then, he noticed the pool of blood. He had apparently sprouted from it. He didn't know why it was here, yet it seemed familiar somehow.

Suddenly, pain shot through his head. Flashes of memory flew through his mind. A girl sobbing, a black figure, a scythe, blue flame, blood, then pain, excruciating pain. He had come here, for the girl? Yes, she was his friend and he'd come to help her. And he had failed. He was supposed to save her, and now she was gone.

That thought filled him with emotion for the first time: grief, anger, sadness… and despair. What good was he? He had let his best friend die. He couldn't even remember her name. He was a useless plant now, unable to do anything except suffer. And that's exactly what he deserved, too.

A sound jerked him out of his thoughts: a small whisper, barely audible. " ** _Asriel…_** "

The name brought more memories back. He was a god, or at least he had been. He knew who he was now, but that only made him feel more inadequate. Some prince of the gods he was, he couldn't even protect the people he cared about.

He looked around the room, but there was no one with him. Did he imagine that voice just now? Then he heard it again, stronger this time. " ** _Asriel…_** "

"Who are you? What do you want?" he asked the empty air. A few moments passed before the voice replied, " ** _You don't recognize my voice? It's me,_** your best friend."

Flashes of memory crashed through his mind again. This time, a name burned in his head.

"Ch- Chara? Is that you?" he asked.

"Finally, you remembered," the voice replied.

As he continued to look around the room, he saw something moving in the shadows. A girl seemed to materialize out of them. His memory was still cloudy, but he was certain this was the girl he was supposed to save. Chara…. his best friend, his sister. He thought he had lost her forever, but here she was. And yet, why didn't he feel anything? He should be happy, right? So why didn't he feel happy?

She looked different then he remembered. She was clothed entirely in black, and her eyes were filled with darkness. She wasn't standing, but hovering a few inches off the floor. The happy cheerful face he had remembered was replaced by a face of bitterness and suffering.

"Chara? What's going on? I thought you died! Why are you here? What happened?" he asked.

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened. I was betrayed. I served you and the other gods faithfully my entire life and what did I get in return? A painful death, that's what. You sent the God of Death to kill me!" she replied. Shadows shot forth from her body and wrapped themselves around him.

"What? No, I would never…" he stammered.

"Spare me," spat Chara. "You really expect me to believe that the king's son had no idea what was going on?"

"I'm serious, I don't know anything about a God of Death! You have to believe me! I came to help you didn't I?"

Chara seemed to consider that for a moment. The shadows slowly released him and crept back towards her body. "Yes, I suppose you did. You failed though, so it's not like it matters. Look at me! I've been reduced to a fragile spirit barely able to interact with the world. The wounds that Death left me with burn with pain, and now I'm cursed to suffer."

Her words only deepened the despair he already felt. She might not be dead, but she had been cursed with a fate that was almost worse, and it was still his fault. Tears began to fill his eyes.

"Oh, are you going to start crying now? You always were a crybaby when we were younger. You know, I came here to get revenge on you for your part in all of this, but I guess none of it is technically your fault. Still, a big crybaby like you is of no use to me. Goodbye, Asriel."

"Wait!" he half sobbed. "Please don't leave me alone!"

"Why should I stay?" she asked. "I'm going to get back at everyone who did this to me, and if all you're going to do is sit there and cry I'll never get anything done."

"But, Chara, how are you even going to get revenge? You can't fight Dad, let alone kill him! You aren't strong enough, and he's immortal anyway."

"That's where your wrong, little brother. I've found a new master, one who will give me the strength to destroy my enemies, human and god alike. I'm going to rid this world of all who oppose me and make it a better place."

Asriel was stunned. What she had said defied all he had ever known, had ever been taught, and yet he was certain she wasn't lying. Furthermore, a part of him agreed with her. The thought that his parents had lied to her, and him, and stabbed them both in the back was ludicrous, but how else could he explain what had happened?

" _This is all that God of Death's fault,_ " he thought to himself. " _If he hadn't attacked Chara none of this would have happened!"_

Then he remembered something else. They had only exchanged a few words, but he remembered what the God of Death had told him right before he attacked. He had only been doing his job. His job… and Asriel could think of only one person who could give orders to a god. His father must have been the one who sent him.

This realization only made his despair grow larger, but now there was something else: anger. A small cinder of rage that slowly began to fill him with purpose. He stopped crying.

"Wait!" he shouted. As he spoke numerous roots and vines erupted from the ground. They were covered in thorns and spread out over the floor.

"Take me with you," he said, his voice determined. "I'm still a god, and I still have power. They betrayed me too, so I'll help you get your revenge. No, _our_ revenge."

Chara's eyes narrowed. "Maybe you have a little backbone after all. You understand what I'm going to do right? If you try to back out or betray me I'll kill you where you stand."

"I understand completely."

"Hmm, alright then. You can come with me. We'll get our revenge together, as partners. Don't let me down Asriel."

"I won't. And I'm no longer Asriel. I won't use the name given to me by those that betrayed us."

"Well I need to call you something." Looking at his new form, she smiled. "How about Flowey? Flowey the flower."

He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "I like it. Thank you, partner."

Chara smiled even wider. "You're welcome. Come, we have much to do."

She turned to the shadows from where she had emerged, but she paused and looked back at him.

"One more thing," she said. "You do know what you have to do if someone gets in our way, right?"

"Yes," Flowey replied. "From now on, in this world… **_it's kill or be killed._** _"_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Eric had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was hearing a noise in his house in the middle of the night. When he had went to take a look, someone had hit him on the back of the head, and that was all he could recall. Now, he was in a long hallway with large columns and stained glass windows along the walls. The windows seemed to be the only source of light and the hallway seemed to stretch on forever. Getting up, he started to walk slowly down the hall, admiring the simplistic beauty of its design. He had only walked for about a minute when he noticed that he wasn't alone. A figure stood before him, clothed entirely in black. He couldn't make out any details beneath the person's hood so he swallowed and asked,

"Um, hello. Do you know where we are?"

The person gave him a short chuckle in reply and answered. "Yeah, I do. Welcome to the Hall of Judgement human."

With that, the figure pulled back his hood, revealing nothing but a skull underneath. Eric froze in place, his mind racing with questions. "Hall of Judgement? What do you mean? And what are you?"

The skeleton sighed. "Look, pal. There isn't an easy way to say this, so I'll be frank with you. You're dead. The burglar you heard hit you a little too hard last night. This is the Underworld, and I'm the God of Death. More importantly, I'm also your Judge."

"Dead?" Eric replied. "I don't understand, I can't be dead yet. I… I.."

"I know its a lot to take in, pal, but trust me. You're dead alright. And now its time for your life to be Judged."

The light from the windows began to grow dimmer and dimmer. Eric found that he couldn't move; all he could do was stand and stare at the god before him. The god looked up with empty eye sockets and seemed to stare right into his soul.

"You will now be judged for your every action," he intoned. "Every decision you've made, good or bad, right or wrong, will now be taken into account."

He paused, as if to let his words sink in. After a moment which seemed like eternity he continued, "You lived a short, but happy life. You worked diligently in the fields and did your best pull your own weight. You had a short temper at times, and you didn't always consider how your actions would affect others, but you were never intentionally arbitrary or cruel. You knew of your weaknesses and tried to correct them, though you weren't always successful. Most of all, you were always ready to aid your fellows in their time of need."

The light returned to its former brightness and Eric felt a sense of great relief flow through his body. Death looked at him again, this time with a faint light glowing in one of his eyes and said, "You may enter the Gardens of Paradise human. Go now, in peace."

A gate had appeared before him, and a warm breeze washed over him. Eric felt a sense of acceptance fill him and he bowed to the god. "Thank you," he said before he walked through the gate and disappeared. The gate vanished soon after him.

Sans let out a sigh of relief. That was the last soul that needed judging today. Thankfully, it was a good soul this time. He never knew exactly what kind of person a soul had been in life until he judged them and he hated it when he encountered a wicked one. The things that humans were capable of doing to each other made him sick sometimes. Even worse, he knew that death, in other words himself, was partially at fault for some of the atrocities he'd witnessed. After all, if death didn't exist, then there would be no reason for the humans to keep inventing gruesome ways to kill each other.

He shook himself. Such thoughts had been plaguing him of late. When he sat down and considered things rationally, he knew that the humans were free to make their own choices and that he wasn't technically to blame for the horrible things they could do. Still, he could never fully shake the feeling of guilt from his thoughts. Especially when he thought about the one mistake that without a doubt _was_ his fault.

 _"Where are you, Chara?"_ he asked himself for the thousandth time. He still couldn't detect any trace of her. Occasionally he would get images of random places in the mortal realm, but he never found a trace of her when he investigated them. That day was fresh in his mind even now, and it had been over a century since it happened.

The time that had passed was what really bothered him. Based on what Gaster had told him, this Chaos creature didn't exactly do things subtlety. He found it hard to believe that he had gained a mortal vessel to wield his power from and then did nothing with it for a hundred years. That kind of patience represented a degree of intelligence and cunning that didn't bode well. No, Chara was up to something, he just didn't know what.

 _"And I'm not going to know until it happens unless I find her soon,"_ he thought.

To make matters worse, Asriel had never returned to the heavens. Asgore and Gaster both thought that he had simply went into hiding out of grief, similar to what the Goddess of Life had done. Sans wasn't so sure. He suspected that Chara was somehow involved, but he couldn't figure out how. His disappearance only gave Sans another reason to find Chara as quickly as possible.

He teleported out of the Hall to his house, looking for Papyrus. He really needed some of his brother's infectious optimism right now. He found a note left on the door.

"Sans! I am going out to reap a few souls. I should be back by dinner time! Just wait until you try the new spaghetti recipe I found yesterday!" —Papyrus

Sans let out another deep sigh. Figures. _"Although I shouldn't be surprised. He probably wanted to spare the souls that will come quietly_ _a visit from me."_

The two of them had grown considerably over the century since they'd been created. Gaster had told him about it. Their powers would become stronger and more defined the more they used them. And it seemed like they were always using them. Humans died all the time, and there were only two of them. They probably used their powers more than any other god did. Now, Papyrus could see not only a person's cause of death, but their exact time of death as well. He'd also gotten the knack for determining if a soul was going to accept death willingly or try to defy it. Those that were at peace with themselves got a visit from Pap, he was very good at granting peaceful deaths. Sans got the more complicated cases. Not that his brother wasn't powerful enough to reap those souls, but he just didn't like doing it. Which suited Sans just fine. He didn't want his brother to dirty himself with that kind of work anyway. When Sans went to reap, it was quick and merciless. The last thing he wanted to do was create another Chara. Of course, what really mattered wasn't the reaping, but rather the judging, but it still made him feel better knowing that Papyrus wouldn't have to witness some of the atrocities he had.

He sighed again and walked in, heading for his room. Well, if Pap wasn't around to cheer him up, he could just try searching for Chara again. Not that he expected this time to be any different. He sat in the middle of the room, closed his eyes, and focused. Hopefully, the more he tried this, the stronger his ability would become. He focused on her name and on her image, recalling what she had looked like right before she vanished. As usual, he was greeted with nothing but darkness, but an image slowly took form in his mind. His tightened his concentration, was he finally going to find her? The image before him was a garden, being tended by several monks. A temple garden? That made sense, he supposed. Chara had been an acolyte after all. His vision focused on a single corner of the garden, where there were numerous golden flowers blooming. Sans opened his eyes and stood, preparing to teleport to that location. It still wasn't a clear picture of her, but it was a lot better than anything else he'd received so far. He had to investigate. Grabbing his scythe, he disappeared with a flick of his cloak.

He arrived in the middle of the garden from his vision. His hunch had been right, it was indeed a temple garden. The humans were growing all kinds of plants here, but they were mostly medical herbs. That made him smile a bit. Anything that helped people live longer meant less work for him. Shaking off his idle thoughts, he proceeded to the corner that his vision had focused on. The humans couldn't see him, but they could definitely sense his presence. Several of them were glancing at each other with looks of unease. Sans chuckled. The one thing he couldn't control was the effect his presence had on the mortal realm. When he walked into a room, humans would begin to feel an unexplainable nervousness. The temperature usually dropped, and timid people left as quickly as possible. He usually made bets with himself on which humans would leave first. After all, how many humans weren't afraid of death?

His thoughts had carried him to the bed of golden flowers he'd seen in his vision. Visually, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He reached out with his magical senses, and felt a presence trying to conceal itself. He summoned his magic, but before he could do anything, a golden flower burst out of the ground in front of him. That was strange enough, but this flower had a face and was moving, swaying from side to side.

"Hi!" the flower said in a bright cheerful voice. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!"

"Uh…. hi," Sans replied.

What in the world was this thing? Flowers didn't talk, and they were most definitely not sentient beings. The only explanation he could think of was that a god had decided to take the form of a flower. He had never met a flower god though. Even if another god had decided to temporarily transform into a flower, why would they be hiding like this? More importantly, why did his vision lead him to this creature?

"Are you playing too?" Flowey asked, breaking his concentration.

"Playing? Playing what?" he replied.

"Hide and seek, of course!" Flowey said.

"Uh, no. Sorry," Sans said. Whatever this thing was, it seemed pretty harmless.

"Really? Are you sure? I mean, you walked right over like you were looking for me. I thought that you might be the seeker this round."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Listen, who and what are you? And what are you doing here?"

"Me? I'm just Flowey, a regular old flower. And I'm playing a game with a friend right now. She told me to hide somewhere in this garden. Then, when she finds me, we'll play a new game."

 _"She?"_ Sans thought. _"It can't be…"_

Out loud he said, "So who's this friend of yours?"

"Her name is Chara," Flowey replied. Then, his face abruptly changed from innocent to menacing. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Without warning, thorny vines suddenly erupted from the flower bed, tearing it to shreds. They moved with incredible speed, aiming right for his chest. Sans jumped back and drew his scythe in one smooth motion. He sidestepped the vines and cut them to shreds with a few swings, then he turned to face Flowey, who was laughing at him.

"Wow, you are easily tricked aren't you?" he cackled. "I never thought you'd fall for that!"

Sans glared at him, eye and scythe ablaze with his signature blue fire. "Where's Chara?" he demanded.

"Aw, he pulled out the scary face." Flowey replied. "Sorry, but Chara really doesn't want to see you right now. In fact, she kind of wants you dead. And, since I'm such a good friend, I'll kill you for her!"

As he finished speaking, more vines lashed out from every direction. Sans ducked and dodged, but the vines seemed to have no end. They began to score glancing hits and he staggered, falling to one knee.

" _Dammit,"_ he thought. _"I could counter them, but if I unleashed my full power here, the humans would die instantly."_

He glanced back at the humans still in the garden, who were staring at them in shock. Well, maybe not at them exactly, but at the invisible tide of destruction that had come out of nowhere.

Flowey picked up on his glance. "Oh, are we worried about the humans, now? How hypocritical. You didn't show Chara any mercy, so why should you care about them?"

Sans looked back at the demonic flower and gritted his teeth. "Leave them out of this," he said.

Flowey smiled wider. "Where's the fun in that? If you care about them so much, you can watch them die!"

Before Sans could do anything, vines erupted underneath the humans' feet and pierced through their bodies. As he looked on, the vines ripped them into pieces. Sans felt the life leave their bodies, and he could see their souls beginning to take form over their corpses. Anger, a rage he had never felt before, consumed him. He looked Flowey right in the eye and said, "Big mistake."

Flowey's smile faltered, and the vines shot towards him again. Sans let them come, and when they were within about a foot of them, he threw his arms outward and unleashed an explosion of his magic. A wave of blue fire shot out from him and washed over the entire garden. Flowey's vines were incinerated, and all the other plant life withered and died instantly. Grabbing his scythe once more, he teleported the distance between them and brought it down, aiming to cut the flower's head off. Right before his blow landed, Flowey burrowed into the earth. Sans turned around looking for him, but saw nothing. Then, he heard his voice, mocking him.

"I don't know why you're so angry at me," he said. "After all, if it weren't for you, they wouldn't be able to die, now would they?"

"Where are you?!" Sans shouted.

"Didn't you hear me before? I'm playing hide and seek. If you want to kill me so badly, you'll have to find me first. Of course, I have other things to do right now, so I'll be going. Don't worry though, I'll play with you again sometime. I can't wait to see how this game of ours turns out."

Sans felt a surge of magic, and he felt the flower's presence disappear. He lowered his scythe and glanced around the garden. Death, everywhere. Not a single plant was still alive. His gaze stopped on the mangled bodies of the gardeners and hardened. One day, he would make that flower pay, but he needed to take care of their souls first. He started walking over to them.

A few minutes later, after taking custody of the dead humans' souls, he had calmed down enough to think clearly again. Whatever that creature was, it was connected to Chara somehow. After all, his vision had led him straight to it. If he could catch him, he might finally be able to fix this mess. He had a feeling that Flowey wasn't going to make it easy on him. In fact, Sans was almost certain that he'd just been lying in wait for him here.

He surveyed the dead garden around him again. The flower had been partially right, as much as he hated to admit it. Flowey might have been the one who killed them, but it was ultimately Sans's fault that they had died. That was what ate at his core. He knew what his purpose was, and he knew that he was important to the cycle and balance of nature. None of that changed the fact that he was a monster, a being who only brought death and destruction wherever he went. He looked around the garden one last time to remind himself of that.

 _"I never thought about it before… but I really hate this job."_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"All right, I think that concludes our business for today," said a weary Asgore. "Does anyone else have anything to discuss?" The king looked around the council table, but no one said anything. He nodded, and said, "Very well, you are all dismissed."

The gods gathered around the table stood and began to file out of the conference room. He'd added few other gods to the council over the years. Undyne sat on the council as the appointed guardian of the realm. Alphys, the newest addition to the coucncil, worked closely with Gaster on researching the properties of the universe. And then, of course, there was Sans.

Asgore had never second-guessed himself on his decision to bring Sans and his brother into the world. He regretted that he had lost his wife because of it, but he knew it had been the right decision. Sans had been the first god to be added to royal council. Death was simply too important to the world's balance for him not to be. Sans had never complained about his appointment, but he had never been thrilled about it either. Recently, however, he had seemed even more apathetic than usual.

"Sans, do you have a moment?" he asked as the others departed.

The God of Death stopped and faced the king. "Yeah, I guess. What do you need?"

"I just wanted to know if there was anything you wished to talk about. You seemed distant during today's meeting. Is something wrong?" he asked.

Sans simply shrugged. "Not really. Sorry if I'm not the most energetic at council meetings, but I already know exactly what my job is. I guess I just get bored. Gaster and Alphys usually have some kind of report or new development in their research to talk about. Me? It's the same old story. Humans die, I reap their souls, and then I judge them in the Underworld. It's been the same story since the day you created me."

Asgore frowned thoughtfully. "I see. Well, if there is ever anything I can do to help, please let me know."

Sans gave him a funny look. "I'm surprised you can say that to me. Especially after what happened with your son."

Asgore smiled sadly. "What happened with Asriel wasn't entirely your fault. And it's not as if you killed him. If anything, the fault lies with me. I'm the one who failed to tell him about your creation. For that matter, I never told you anything about him either."

"Still," Sans replied. "He's been gone ever since. Don't you ever miss him?"

"Well, of course," said Asgore. "However, I learned a long time ago that as king, I must bear the responsibility for my mistakes. Asriel will return home when he is ready. Since I am partially to blame for his disappearance, I can hardly lash out at you for your part in it. Besides, my wife had already left me when I made the decision to create you, so I had some experience dealing with that kind of pain."

Sans's face had remained neutral during the conversation, but Asgore saw an ugly light flare up in his eye at his last comment. It was the briefest of reactions, but it was there. _"Interesting,"_ he thought. _"It seems he is hiding something."_

"At any rate, I want you to know that I hold no grudge against you for your actions that day. And I meant what I said earlier. If there is anything you need to talk to me about, you need only ask."

Sans smiled slightly. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Asgore." He cocked an eyesocket. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

"Not right now," Asgore replied.

"I'll be going then."

"Of course, I'll see you at the next meeting."

Sans turned and walked out of the council chamber, closing the door behind him. He'd only gotten a few steps from the door when he heard another voice address him.

"So what did Asgore want to talk to you about?"

Sans turned towards the speaker and said, " _Tibia_ honest? It's none of your business, Undyne."

His response seemed to piss her off. Which was exactly why he'd answered her that way. Undyne was one of his least favorite gods, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. They were perfectly capable of being civilized during meetings and social events, but it was a public secret that they didn't like each other at all. Sans had his reasons for disliking the Goddess of War, but he wasn't quite sure what Undyne's problem with him was. Maybe she had just picked up on his dislike and decided to return the favor. Or maybe she had a specific reason for hating him. He didn't really care either way.

"And how do you know its not my business?" she replied tartly. "I'm the sworn protector of the realm, so if there's something that I need to know to ensure the kingdom's security, then I have a right to know about it."

"You're absolutely right. And if was something like that, then Asgore would've told you, now wouldn't he?" he said.

Undyne clenched her teeth and said nothing. She really wanted to punch Sans right in the face. That stupid smile he was always wearing got on her nerves. Why did he have to be so secretive about everything? He always acted like he was better than everyone else, like they weren't worth his time. If he had a choice, she was certain he'd spend all of his time in the Underworld, never bothering to interact with the rest of them. Even more annoying was the fact that he was always slacking off. She wasn't too clear on all the details, but she knew he had an important job to do, and he always waited until the last minute to go reaping. Since she joined the council, she had learned that Chaos was still out there, still a threat. If Sans's laziness ended up causing an imbalance that released that monster back into their reality, she would never forgive him for it.

"Fine, don't tell me," she finally said. "Have you been keeping up with your reaping?"

"I've told you this a thousand times," he replied with an air of exasperation. "I'll reap when its necessary. I'm not going to do any more work than I absolutely have to. And yes, you can tell that I've been keeping up because you haven't seen any corrupted humans running around."

"One of these days, your laziness is going to get the better of you. When that happens, it's going to be my job to clean up the mess," she said.

"Do I tell you how to do your job?" he retorted. "No? Then stop trying to tell me how to do mine."

Undyne felt her magic rise in response to her anger. "Someone really ought to teach you some manners, Sans," she said.

Sans smiled wider. "I'd love to see you try it," he replied.

Undyne took a step step forward and was about to summon a spear when a third voice joined the conversation.

"Excuse me, am I interrupting something?"

Both Sans and Undyne turned to see Gaster standing in the corridor. His face was completely calm and he regarded them both steadily. Sans glanced sideways at Undyne and said, "Not really. We were just having a disagreement."

"I see," said Gaster. "Well, while I'm sure that it was a lively debate, I'm afraid need to speak to the king again. There were a few things I forgot to mention at today's meeting that I think he should be informed of. Might I ask that the two of you take your discussion somewhere else?"

"Not a problem. I was just about to head to Grillby's anyway," said Sans. "See you around old man."

Sans teleported out of the room, leaving Gaster and Undyne alone. Undyne stared at him and said, "Why do you always cover for him?"

Gaster smiled. "I don't. However, if the two of you started fighting here, the castle would be reduced to rubble. Somehow, I don't think that will make the king happy."

"I had the situation under control," she said.

"You really shouldn't lie to yourself like that," Gaster replied. He spoke like a teacher addressing a young student. "I can sense your magic, you know. You were a second away from summoning one of your spears and attacking Sans with it. Even if you assume that your reasons for doing so were valid, which they probably weren't, that is no way for a Goddess of the royal council to act."

Undyne looked away. "Ok, so maybe I was about to do something rash. Do you plan on giving Sans the same lecture?"

"No," Gaster replied. "I was monitoring his magic as well. He was going to teleport out the second you charged at him. He wasn't an instant away from violence like you were."

Undyne closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. After a few moments, she said, "I just don't know why he acts the way he does. He doesn't seem to care about anything except avoiding his work as much as possible. Doesn't he understand that all I'm trying to do is make sure our world is safe?"

"I'm sure he does, in his own way at least. As for the way he acts, I'm afraid I can't speak for him in that regard. Perhaps you should try asking him."

"Asking him?" Undyne said in disbelief. "I don't know if you noticed, but we're not exactly best friends."

"I'm not saying you have to be best friends," Gaster replied calmly. "However, you shouldn't be so quick to judge others. Have you ever honestly tried to get to know him? Have you ever asked him about what he does, and how he feels about it?" Undyne looked away again. Gaster continued, "If you've never bothered to get the answers to those questions, how can you expect to understand him?"

Undyne let out a long sigh. "Ok, ok. I get it. You're right. But I don't think he's going to give me a chance to talk to him now."

"You might be surprised," said Gaster. "Sans is perfectly capable of being polite when he wants to. If you approach him and apologize for your actions, he'll likely listen to what you have to say."

"Alright," she replied. "I guess I'll go apologize then. Just don't expect us to be all buddy-buddy."

"That is all I can ask of you," Gaster said.

"Guess I should get going then."

She started to leave, but then the council door opened and Asgore walked out into the hallway. "Before you go, I have an additional request," he said.

Undyne bowed to him. "Of course Your Majesty. Um, just how long have you been standing there?"

Asgore smiled broadly. "Since Sans walked out," he replied. "I overheard your conversation, and there's something I want you to find out for me when you talk to him."

"What is it?" Undyne asked.

Asgore told her.

Undyne frowned. "That seems a little random. Why do you want to know that?"

"Let's just say I have a hunch about what's been bothering him of late. Of all the gods in our world, I know Sans the least. I think this will help me better understand him."

"Well, ok. I'll see what I can find out," she said. Undyne began walking towards the palace exit.

When she was out of earshot, Gaster and Asgore traded looks. "You don't seem surprised at my request," said Asgore.

"I happen to share your suspicions on this matter," Gaster replied.

"Nothing escapes your notice, does it?"

"One tries, Your Majesty."

After a few moments Gaster said, "Although, whether or not we're correct, it doesn't really change anything."

"I know," said Asgore. "Still, I want to learn as much as I can about Sans. I want to make him feel welcome here. We owe him that much."

"That we do," Gaster replied. "That we do."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Sans stepped through the door to Grillby's and started to head towards his usual table. He took a quick glance around the place as he did. It was pretty late in the day, and there wasn't much of a crowd. Still, the few conversations that were going on went silent as he walked by. He really shouldn't be surprised by that. It didn't matter if it was the mortal realm or the god's realm, he always killed the mood when he walked into a room. He sat down at his table, the one in the corner furthest from the door. Grillby walked over to him as he sat and gave him a look.

"I'll have a burger and fries, Grillby. With extra ketchup," he said.

Grillby nodded and headed back towards the bar to start preparing his meal. The God of the Hearth seldom talked to anyone, usually communicating with grunts and nods. Sans found it refreshing, since he knew that when Grillby didn't talk to him, it wasn't because he was scared. He didn't know why most of the lesser gods harbored an uneasy fear of him, but he hadn't made much of an effort to find out. He didn't want anyone else bugging him about his job, so if the fear kept them from bothering him, he was content to leave things that way.

After a few minutes, Grillby returned with his food. He thanked him and picked up the burger. Grilllby's food was the only stuff he was capable of eating, anything from the mortal realm simply decomposed on contact. Of course, gods didn't really need to eat, but it was an important routine for Sans. Eating let him take his mind off of his circumstances. For a few moments, he could forget about reaping souls and tracking down Chara. To him, a meal was a precious break from the concerns of his world.

He was only a few bites in when he realized someone was standing next to his table. He looked up, saw that it was Undyne, and just stared while he chewed. After a few moments of awkward silence, he just shrugged and returned to his burger.

"Hey!" she said, annoyed. "Rude, much?"

Sans swallowed and said, "Sorry, but I'm not usually polite to people that threaten me. What do you want?"

"Look, I'm here to apologize. Can I sit?" she asked.

Sans looked up in surprise. Undyne was apologizing for something? This was so unheard of that he almost laughed in her face. Then he saw the look in her eyes. No, she was serious.

"Alright," he said. "Go ahead."  
Undyne sat down and took a moment to gather her thoughts. Then she said, "Ok, I know we both don't like each other that much, but what I did earlier was uncalled for. So, I'm sorry. And I was kinda hoping we could talk about it."  
Sans shoved the remainder of his burger into his mouth. After putting it down, he said, "Well, I guess I accept your apology. I'm not sure that there's anything else to talk about though."

"I want to talk about your job. I didn't really say it the right way earlier, but there's a reason I'm always pressuring you about it."

Sans sighed. He was hoping that it would be something different this time, but no. He was going to get the same lecture again.

"I already know where you're going with this," he told her. "You're going to tell me that you're worried if I don't do my job properly, its going to create an big imbalance." He paused for a second, taking note of his surroundings. The gods left in the pub were trying, not very successfully, to pretend that they weren't attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation. He had to be careful here, only the council knew that Chaos still existed. If he revealed that fact here, it could cause a panic. "Then, you-know-who is going to come crashing back into this world and make a big mess of things."

Undyne nodded. "That's exactly what I'm worried about."

"I understand your concerns, but honestly, you just need to let me do things my way. I know how important my job is, and I know what's at stake if I fail. Trust me, I get it."

"Do you though?" she asked.

Sans sat back, cocking an eye-socket. "Excuse me?"

Undyne looked him in the eye, and her tone was deadly serious when she spoke. "Sans, you weren't around when that monster first attacked our world. You didn't have fight against him like we did. We may have won in the end, but it wasn't without cost. You realize he has the power to destroy us right? Gods that should be immortal, that should exist forever were erased from existence right before our eyes. Some of them were my friends." She lowered her voice so the others couldn't hear her. "Chaos is a being that leaves nothing but destruction and agony in his wake. He enjoyed every second of the pain he inflicted upon us. How can you possibly understand what it's like to face something like that? You've never had to experience a war like the rest of us have."

"I've never had to experience war, huh? You sure about that?" he replied.

Undyne looked confused. "What are you takling about?" she asked.

"Well, for your information, I happen to have extensive experience with war. Did you forget who I am, Undyne? I'm the God of Death. I show up every time a human dies. And do you want to know what I spend my busiest days dealing with? War. The humans march to war all the time, you should know that since you have a hand in most of them anyway. And get this, when they go to war, they kill each other! And I have to sit there and watch them do it. The humans don't know that they have another existence after death, so for them war is just as serious and permanent as the one you fought. They lose family and friends too. When I judge the souls of the dead, I have to immerse myself in their memories. I experience their pain and loss as if it were my own. So yeah, I know exactly what war is like. And that's why I've never liked you Undyne. You know how terrible war can be, and yet you keep inspiring the humans to wage more of it, which means more work for me."

He finished, staring her down until she broke eye contact. In a small voice, she said, "I didn't know it was like that for you. But you should know that I never start a war without a good reason. When I inspire humans to go to war, its always for justice, to right a wrong."

"It doesn't matter why you start them," Sans said. "Even the humans with the best of intentions are capable of committing atrocities in the name of whatever they're fighting for. War is hell, no matter how just the cause is. If you don't understand that, then you have no business starting them."

Silence returned. A few minutes passed by before Undyne spoke again. "You have a point. I'd always focused on doing my duty without thinking about the larger picture. I'll keep your words in mind the next time I start a human war."

"Fine," Sans said. "I guess that's about as much as I can ask for."

"Thanks," she replied. Then, she said, "You know, I used to consult with the Queen whenever I was dealing out justice to humans. She helped guide my conscience back before she left."

Sans's eye twitched. "Oh?" he said.

"Yeah," she replied. "She's the kindest goddess I know. She was our light, our beacon. If a god ever felt lost or confused, she would help them find their way again." She paused, and turned to look at him. "You've never met her right? She's—"

"Selfish," Sans interjected.

Undyne sat back in surprise, her eyes wide. "What?" she asked.

"You heard me," Sans retorted. "She's selfish and immature. In fact, off the top of my head, I can't think of a single god who's more selfish than she is."

Undyne leaned forward, and this time her eyes were narrowed and focused. "You better be careful before you start throwing insults at her. She's our Queen."

"She _was_ our Queen. You're right, I've never met her, because she left and went into hiding before I was even born. And why did she do that? Because she couldn't handle the truth about her precious creations. She couldn't accept that I was necessary to keep balance."

Undyne was starting to get mad again. Her hands were tightening, and the table began to creak in protest. Sans continued, and anger crept into his voice for the first time.

"She filled the mortal realm to the bursting point, never thinking about the consequences of her actions. And when she had face those consequences, she ran. She abandoned the rest of us. And she continues to create life from whatever hole she's hiding in. Humans die all the time, but for every one that dies, two more take their place. And for what? She knows that I exist, that the life she creates will ultimately end and yet she keeps doing it. She keeps giving life to new humans knowing that she's just setting them up to get a visit from me. She's the reason I have go out and reap. She's the reason I'm stuck with this repulsive job. She's the bane of my existence!"

Undyne felt the anger boiling off him. Her own anger had faded and now she just stared at him with an expression of bewilderment. She would never have believed that any god could harbor this much hatred towards another of their kind.

Sans saw her expression and his tone softened. "You can't understand how this feels," he said. "To be an agent of death, to bring nothing but pain and sadness wherever I go. You are revered and worshipped by humans, I am only feared. I can't enjoy the mortal realm like the rest of you, everything I touch dies. Even here, the only gods that bother to talk to me are you and the rest of the council. Everyone else is just as afraid of me as the humans are. And when you do talk to me, all you can ever talk about is my job. Every time you hound me about it, you remind me of what I am. You remind me of the death I bring, of all the souls I've had to judge. And do you know the best part of all this? No matter how well I do my job, no matter how many souls I reap, it will never end. I will never get a break, and there will always be new souls to harvest. All thanks to that precious Queen you and everyone else love so much."

Undyne tried to say something, but one look at San's face told her that was a bad idea. She just sat there, watching him with a sad, thoughtful expression. Sans returned her gaze, and after a few minutes had passed he glanced around the room again. The pub had emptied completely, leaving Undyne, Grillby, and himself behind. He stood and turned towards the bar. "Thanks for the meal, Grillby," he said in a much lighter voice. "Sorry I scared all your customers away."

Grillby nodded his head and gave a grunt of acknowledgement. Sans nodded back and gave Undyne one last look. Then, he vanished without another word. Undyne sighed and walked up to the bar. "I'll have my usual order to go," she said.

A few hours later, she walked back into the council chamber where Asgore and Gaster sat waiting for her. She plopped down in her chair and said, "You were right. He hates your wife with a passion."

Asgore nodded. "I suspected as much," he replied. "The burden I have placed upon Sans is a heavy one, and it is only natural he would resent it. I just wish he would direct his anger towards me instead."

"You cannot take all the blame, Your Majesty," Gaster said. "I am the one who brought him into this world after all. More importantly, it needed to be done to preserve the balance. You know this."

"I do," Asgore said. "However, knowing that doesn't make me feel any better about it." He paused for a second then said, "You know, Sans hates what he is and what he has to do, and I hate the fact that I had to place that burden on him. It makes me wonder, whose job is worse? His, or mine?"

He cocked an eyebrow at Gaster, who simply sat there in silence. "Ah, well," he said. "There will be time enough to answer that question later. I will see you tomorrow, my friends."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Of all the places in the mortal realm that he had to visit, Sans had decided long ago that medical facilities, "hospitals" as the humans called them, were both the best and the worst. On one hand, they saved countless lives from ending prematurely. However, they were also where many humans died from disease, age, or even serious injury. Of course, whenever he came to visit, it meant that someone was dying. Today was no exception. His target was an adult woman who was in the middle of labor, and who would die after giving birth.

 _"Of all the ways to die, this has gotta be one of the worst,"_ he thought. Childbirth, for whatever reason, was incredibly painful. He would've assumed that the Goddess of Life would've made it more enjoyable, but apparently not. In this woman's case, she was about to go through the most painful experience of her life, and she wouldn't be able to raise her own child. She probably wouldn't even get a chance to hold him. Or would it be a girl? Not that it would matter in the end.

The woman let out another cry of pain, and the doctors readied themselves to catch the child when it arrived. Sans watched the entire scene with a mixture of curiosity and resentment. He still hated how Life kept making more and more humans for him to reap, but he had to admit that it was an intriguing process. It was the first time he had ever been present to witness a new life being brought into the world. Why did the female carry the child? Why did it take roughly nine months to happen? Why bother involving the humans at all? Surely Life could simply will new humans into existence. Why did she rely on the humans to reproduce naturally? He shook his head. After all, it didn't matter why Life did what she did. It didn't change what he had to do.

The woman cried out again, and this time Sans felt a magic presence fill the room. He looked around, but whatever it was, it wasn't physical. Then he understood, the magic was centered on the woman. He reached out with his senses, and his eye burned with a gentle blue flame as he examined her closely. He saw the magic being worked around her. It coalesced into a small golden flame, barely the size of her fist. The flame slowly descended, seeping into the woman and entering the child in her womb. The woman cried out in pain once more, but then she gasped in relief as another voice began crying. A small baby girl was now in the hands of the waiting doctors.

 _"So that's how she does it,"_ he thought. _"Interesting."_ He watched the newborn struggle and protest as the doctors examined her. _"She doesn't even bother to show up in person. Heh…and I thought I was lazy."_

He stared at the newborn for a few more seconds before turning to the mother. Her life was already fading from her body. She managed to turn her head to get a look at her child. Her eyes lingered on her tiny form before she let out a sigh of contentment. Sans walked over to her beside, and pulled out his scythe.

 _"Sorry, kid,"_ he thought. _"Looks like your life starts with tragedy."_ And he brought the scythe down.

After he finished his work, Sans teleported back home to drop off the souls in the Hall of Judgement. The Hall had been Papyrus's project, and it had kept him occupied for an entire week. That might not sound like much, but when you could literally make buildings appear out of thin air, a week was a long time to spend constructing something. Sans smiled as he thought of his brother. Papyrus never seemed to be bothered by what they were. True, he didn't like to forcibly reap souls, but he had never been depressed by it either. His brother seemed to be a boundless supply of positive energy. Sans wondered how he did it. Death wasn't exactly a joyous thing. He never considered asking him about it either. Whatever quality Papyrus possessed that allowed him to be so cheerful all the time was something that he didn't possess himself. He was sure of that.

His thoughts had carried him to their house. Walking in, he noticed that Papyrus had already cooked dinner.

"Sans!" he said. "You're running late! Your spaghetti will get cold if you let it sit any longer!"

Sans barely managed to hide his grimace. Papyrus had an unhealthy fascination with cooking pasta. It was a shame that he was a horrible cook. Sans had often suspected that Papyrus had been born with an altered sense of taste. His cooking was barely edible, but he shoveled it down anyway. Also, he had never liked Grillby's food, which was widely considered to be the best in existence.

"Sorry, bro, but I can't stay for dinner. I've got an appointment upstairs," he said.

"Really? With who?" Papyrus replied.

"Alphys. She's been working on a project for me."

"I see. Well, enjoy your visit! I'll put your spaghetti in the fridge so you can eat it later."

 _"Of course you will,"_ he thought. Out loud he said, "Thanks, bro. I'll see you later."

He teleported to the entrance of Alphys's laboratory. The lab of the Goddess of Knowledge was one of the few places he never teleported directly into. Alphys was… disorganized to say the least. She was brilliant, but she sometimes let her enthusiasm get the better of her. Her various projects tended to end up scattered around the lab, usually in the middle of the floor somewhere. The last time he'd teleported straight in, he ended up swimming in some sort of tank filled with a strange liquid that had dyed his bones pink for a month. Since then, he'd made it a policy to use the door like everyone else. It was just safer that way.

The door swung open automatically when he walked up to it. He walked inside, and sure enough, there were various experiments everywhere. Alphys was no where to be seen, however. Then he heard her voice. "I'll be right with you!" she called.

Sans folded his arms and waited. He was a little impatient. He'd been anxious for this project to work, but he knew that trying to rush Alphys was futile. She had always moved at her own pace, and she was completely oblivious to suggestions that she should work a little faster. Of course, it was probably a good thing that she didn't rush some of her more delicate experiments. He heard footsteps, and saw her coming around the corner. "Ah, Sans!" she said. "Good to see you. How have you been?"

"Just fine, thanks," he replied. The Goddess of Knowledge was a short yellow reptilian creature who wore a white lab coat and glasses. Of all the gods that he knew, she was definitely one of the most interesting. She studied everything about everything. She would go out of her way to learn things that seemed completely pointless, and Sans was positive that she hardly slept at all. Especially with the task Asgore had given her. Ever since she was appointed to the council, she, along with Gaster, had been put in charge of researching ways to seal Chaos out of their reality. So far, she hadn't had much luck, but she was determined to do whatever it took to get the job done. It was something they had in common.

 _"Of course, she probably likes her job a bit more than I like mine,"_ he thought to himself.

"I got your message," he told her. "I'm here to pick it up."

"Of course, of course," she said. "Follow me. And uh, try not to touch anything."

Sans nodded and followed her through the maze of stasis tanks, tool tables, and equipment monitors. Alphys led him to a corner in the back of the room, where a magic infusion table had been set up. There were several diagrams drawn on and around the table, and a clear crystal orb floated in the middle of it. "The process was relatively simple," Alphys was saying. "It just took a while to attune it and charge it up."

She stopped and carefully picked up the orb, examining it for any defections. "All right," she said after a moment. "Here you go. One scrying crystal attuned to the mortal realm."

"Thanks," he said, taking it from her. It was a lot lighter than he thought it'd be. "I can use this to scan any part of the human realm right?"

"Yep," she replied. "You can look at anything you want. You can even scan the entire mortal realm all at once." She paused for a second. "Although, I'm not entirely sure why you wanted one. I mean, its not like you need it to find the humans who die."

"I wanted it for… personal reasons," he said. Only two people knew the whole truth about Chara's corruption: Gaster and himself. Everyone else thought that she had died when he went to reap her. Gaster had decided that it would be best if the council didn't know about what had happened to her. Chara had been adored by the gods. Many of them had been upset enough when they found out she had "died." If the council, particularly Asgore, found out what had really happened, it could lead them to do something rash.

Alphys studied him for a moment, curious about what kind of personal reason Sans would have for a scrying crystal. Then she shrugged, it wasn't her business anyway. Besides, a scrying orb wasn't dangerous at all. "Well, alright then. Just try not to break it. I don't have a whole lot of time on my hands, so I wouldn't be able to replace it right away."

"Got it," Sans said. "Thanks again Alphys."

He teleported back to the Underworld. Specifically, he went straight to his room. He didn't want Papyrus interrupting him about his dinner right now. Spaghetti could wait until he gave this a shot. He sat the crystal down in front of him and placed a hand on it. He concentrated, channeling his magic through the crystal. He thought about Chara, and her image appeared in the crystal's center. Then her image vanished, replaced by a multitude of scenes from around the entire realm. He gritted his teeth. Nothing was changing. Try as he might, the images refused to focus.

He almost slammed the crystal on the floor out of frustration. The whole point of having a scrying tool created was so that he could focus his ability to find humans to track down Chara. Nothing had changed, and he was still no closer to finding her. _"Think Sans,"_ he told himself. _"There has to be some way to find her."_

He thought about calling up Alphys, but in order for her to help solve the problem he'd have to tell her about Chara. Besides, she'd probably just tell him to think outside the box. After all, it's not like she would know why the he couldn't find her.

 _"Wait a second,"_ he thought. _"Maybe I've been looking at this the wrong way. The crystal is channelling my power to find humans. Since its still not working, that means that my power isn't capable of finding her. Now, the question is: Why can't my power find her?"_

He'd always just assumed that Chaos had been shielding her with some sort of counter spell. However, now that he considered it, that theory didn't hold up. Chaos might be able to wield his power through her, but only a fraction. Given how much his own power had grown, not to mention having boosted it with the scrying crystal, there should be no way Chaos could generate enough power to stop him from finding her. Which meant she was hiding in a different way.

 _"How could she hide from me?"_ he thought. _"She has to be in the mortal realm somewhere, but where? Is there a place that I can't reach? And if there is, how would I find it?"  
_ Then it hit him. _"I'm Death,"_ he realized. _"The state of death is what connects me to the mortal realm. So if there's a place I can't see in the mortal realm, then it means that location is free of death."_

He focused on the crystal again, preparing to scan the entire realm. It glowed, then became a miniature replica of the planet the humans lived on. His eye began to burn and he let some his power flow into the crystal, scanning for any trace of his own presence. The crystal slowly began to turn dark, covering up the landscape. Soon enough, the entire planet was black. Except for a single tiny dot. Wherever Chara's hiding place was, it was in the virgin forest backed up against Mt. Ebbot, the tallest mountain in the world.

"Finally," he said. "I've finally found you."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The forest was actually quite lovely. It wasn't completely quiet, but it had a calm tranquility about it that was very soothing. Untouched by humans, the forest was nature in its purest form. It was a shame he was here on such ugly business.

Sans walked through the trees, his footsteps leaving patches of dead plants behind him, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. He had teleported to the forest's edge and slowly made his way inward. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for, but he was sure he'd know it when he saw it. After all, a place free of death should stick out like a sore thumb to him. He was nearing the heart of the forest now.

Then, he felt it. It was subtle, but he sensed a thrum of magical power in the direction of Mt. Ebbot. He picked up his pace, and when he got a little closer to the mountain, he found what he was looking for. He'd stumbled upon a grove of trees that had grown so close to one another that they formed a solid wall. Sans didn't know much about trees, but he knew they wouldn't naturally form a thick wall like that. There was a single break, shaped almost like a door, in the center. The opening was sealed up with some kind of green magic. He smiled. "Finally," he said.

He walked up to the opening and stood right in front of it. _"Well, well,"_ he thought to himself. _"This has got to be it. The one place in the mortal realm that I've never been to before. The one place completely free of me. How suspicious. There's even a barrier here to avoid detection."_

Looking closer, he saw that the barrier was made up of interlocking vines with magic coursing through them. He smiled wider. Something like this was child's play to him. He reached out and touched the barrier with his hand. The vines began to wilt at his touch. Within seconds, the barrier fell, leaving an open way into the grove.

 _"How simple. They can't run from me any more. Time to end this."_ Sans walked through, his senses alert for any disturbance. He was instantly on edge, for something wasn't quite right. For some reason, he felt like this wasn't his first visit.

 _"It's strange,"_ he thought. _"I've never been here before, but I can't shake the feeling that I know this place somehow. And the magic of that barrier… it kinda seemed familiar."_

He kept walking and soon he reached a clearing. There was wildlife everywhere. Birds, deer, rabbits, and all other kinds of animals. Numerous flowers and trees, more than he knew existed, grew along the edge of the clearing. They were colorful and vibrant and had clearly been arranged in a set pattern, forming the most beautiful garden he'd ever seen. He could've stood there and gazed at it for hours, but something else had drawn his eye. In the middle of the clearing, surrounded by animals, was a tall creature. She was clothed in simple green robes and she seemed to radiate light and warmth. Her back was turned to him, but he could tell she had fur and a pair of long ears. Definitely not human. Which left only one alternative. _"No… it can't be,"_ he thought.

He took a few steps closer, and as soon as he broke the clearing's circle the animals bolted in every direction. The goddess, for that was what she had to be, looked around with a startled expression. She finally turned around and saw him for the first time. Her face was… kinda cute actually. She had round eyes and cheeks, and a pair of small horns on the top of her head. The horns were also covered in fur, and actually made her look even cuter. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then her eyes drifted down and were suddenly filled with rage. Following her gaze, Sans looked down at his feet, where the grass had wilted and died where he stood. He grinned, and lifted his head, looking her directly in the eye.

"It's… _you,"_ she snarled.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Isn't this a _ghastly_ surprise. So this is where you've been hiding all this time." He was trying hard not to burst out into hysterical laughter. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen dea-"

He barely dodged the plume of fire she hurled at him. Man, she was quick. "Whoa! Chill, out lady. Do you want to set this place on fire?"

He looked over his shoulder where the fire landed and was surprised to see that it wasn't consuming anything. "Huh, it's not burning." He looked back at her. "You really must be Life."

"And you are an abomination!" she replied, gathering more flames into her hands. "A creature like you should not exist!"

"Heh, that's rich," Sans said as he took out his scythe. "Considering you're the reason I do!"

They launched themselves at each other without thinking, acting off pure instinct. It was in their nature. Life and Death were opposites after all. They had circled each other from the beginning, but right now it felt like their very first dance. They both despised the other, and at first they attacked without mercy. Warm gold flame met cold blue fire, and their powers collided, creating shockwaves that shook the whole garden. They were evenly matched, neither Life's flame or Death's scythe found their mark. The fight went on for almost two hours before they both collapsed, panting for breath. With most of their energy exhausted, the two of them began to think clearly again.

Sans sat there, breathing heavily as he considered the Goddess of Life. He hadn't really known what he was doing when they were fighting. It all seemed like a blur. Now that he had calmed down, he observed her a little closer. She was strong, but he should've guessed that already. She probably used her powers as much as he did. Humans might die everyday, but it was likely that they were born everyday as well. No wonder her powers were an even match for his. He stared at her. This woman was his curse, the reason he had to bear the burden of Death. He hated her, he'd told himself that countless times. And yet…

He couldn't look at her in eyes and feel that hatred. Despite all the reasons he had to loathe her, he just couldn't. He wasn't entirely sure why either. He smiled. Well, he had to admit he'd always been curious about her. Guess he should try to act civilized. He opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it.

"You know," she panted. "It is rude to barge into someone's home uninvited. Didn't anyone teach you any manners?"

"Please," he replied. "I'm never invited anywhere, so I guess I can't help being rude."

He grinned at the look she was giving him. He shrugged it off saying, "Anyway, now that we seem to have let off some steam, I didn't come here looking for you."

"Then what are you here for?" she demanded.

 _"Tread lightly, Sans,"_ he told himself. This was the goddess that had created Chara after all. He doubted she'd take the news of Chara's corruption well. "You haven't seen a murderous yellow flower around here by any chance, have you?"

"A murderous flower!?" she replied, shocked. "You twisted one of my creations and made it murderous!?"

"Hey now," he said. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't my fault."

"Everything's your fault!"

"Now look who's being rude."

She glared at him for that last remark. He didn't know why, but he was really enjoying himself right now. "Well," he said. "It's pretty obvious it won't be here. We're both pretty tired, and I think I've worn out my welcome. So I'll just _bleat_ it. Before I go though, I never actually bothered to learn your name. Mind telling me?"

She stared at him for a solid minute before finally, "I am Toriel."

His grin grew wider. "Name's Sans. Nice to meet you." With that, he turned to go.

"Don't you ever return, Creature of Darkness!" Toriel said. "You are never welcome here!"

Sans looked back over his shoulder. She was obviously still upset, but he wasn't about to let that one slide. Time for a reality check.

"Heh. Last I checked, I don't answer to you," he said. "Besides, isn't Life supposed to be full of surprises? And what bigger surprise is there than a visit from me?"

"How dare you—" But before she could finish he was gone. Toriel sat there, contemplating what had happened. After so much time spent in hiding, she had assumed she would never come into contact with another god ever again. But why, of all the gods that could've found her, did it have to be him? That foul God of Death who's only purpose was to destroy everything she created. She stood, wondering what she should do next. She could put the barrier back up, but he'd already broken through once, so it wouldn't be able to keep him out. She sighed. Well, it would at least keep anyone else from finding her. Or at least she hoped it would. After all, if Death told everyone where she was it would be impossible to avoid detection. She started walking to the entrance of her Sanctuary, considering all that she had to do. Death would come back, she was certain of it. And when he did, she would be ready for him. Once she finished replacing the barrier she headed back to her favorite napping spot. That fight had worn her out, and she slowly drifted off to sleep. Before she closed her eyes, she remembered the look on Death's face before he left. He had a nice smile, but it looked so out of place on him. "But I suppose even the God of Death has to have some kind of redeeming quality," she muttered before passing out.

Sans appeared back in the Underworld and was immediately greeted by his brother. "Sans!" said Papyrus. "Welcome back! Where did you run off to?"

"Oh, you know. Just went out and about for a bit."

"Really? Did you make any new friends?"

"Maybe."

"So you did make some new friends! Do you like them?"

"Well, she's definitely the _Life of the party_ , that's for sure."

"Nyeh?"

Sans left Papyrus half confused and walked up to his room. His search for Chara and Flowey had come up dry, but he didn't really care right now. He ought to feel frustrated, but for whatever reason, he was feeling better than he had in ages. Still, he was utterly exhausted. Maybe he could finally get a good night's sleep for once. He laid down and before he went to sleep, one last image drifted across his mind. It wasn't Chara or Flowey, it was Toriel. Specifically, the image of her standing there, simply looking at him before she had realized who he was.

She really did have a cute face.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Toriel sat up and yawned as she finished waking. She had never been a morning person, but she'd always slept well. At least, she had slept well. Ever since Death had come knocking on her door, her dreams had been plagued with his presence. It was a strange sensation. They weren't exactly nightmares, but they were hardly what she would call pleasant. Sometimes she would be forced to watch as he cut down humans and took their souls. Other times, she would recall his menacing smile as her mind replayed the battle in her garden. Try as she might, she couldn't shake him from her thoughts. Occasionally she would find herself wondering what kind of person he was. She imagined a cold, almost sadistic personality that reveled in destroying anything that got in his way. She told herself that the playful, almost comedic banter he'd spouted when they met was all just a ploy to keep her from seeing what he really was. Deep down though, in her more rational moments, she had to admit that she didn't really know anything about him. Still, she couldn't be far off. After all, his sole purpose was to kill things. God or not, there was no way he was capable of anything resembling true compassion. If he was, he'd have turned his back on his purpose long ago.

 _"All right, Toriel,"_ she said to herself. _"Enough sitting around. It's a new day, and you might as well make the most of it."_

She got up and began to make her rounds. She worked on her garden for a while, rearranging it and trying out new flowers. Then, she visited with the animals that called the Sanctuary home. Around noon, she started to gather some of the various fruits and vegetables she grew for her lunch. She mixed them together into a salad and sat down to eat, offering some of the berries to her animal friends. After eating, she got up and headed towards the entrance to the Sanctuary, where her barrier stood. Ever since that fateful day, she'd made it a point to check on it to make sure no one was getting in undetected. She still couldn't believe Death had broken it down and trespassed without her sensing it. When she arrived, she found the barrier intact, and not a trace of anything suspicious. She sighed. She ought to feel relieved, she supposed, but she knew it was only a matter of time before someone came for her. It had been over a month. Death had probably told the others by now. She knew that Asgore was probably smart enough not to show up in person, but that wouldn't keep him from sending someone in his place. For that matter, some of the gods would come on their own, just to get a chance to see her.

There were times where she regretted investing so much time into caring for everyone. Asgore had been, and still was, the king, the ruler who job it was to make sure their world stayed safe. Unfortunately, his duties had left little for socialization. Immediately following the war with Chaos and her creation of humans there had been a time of great hope, but also one of great uncertainty. Asgore had been focused on making sure the world was still safe, and so she had taken up the role of guiding their people through their struggles. She had helped many during those days, and she'd developed close personal friendships with just about everyone. She had been closer to some than others, but she had made it a point to spread the world that if a god ever needed counsel, she would be there. Leaving the friends she had made behind was the one regret she'd had when she left the heavens. Well, that and her son.

 _"I wonder how Asriel is doing?"_ she thought. _"Is he growing well? Does he have friends? Is he fulfilling his duties? And what does he think of me now? I left while he was away, I never got a chance to say goodbye. Would he have agreed with me? Would he have come with me to this place?"_

The questions wouldn't leave her head as she slowly walked back to her garden. Either way, she would probably find out soon enough. It was only a matter of time before—

"Well that's a pretty pathetic expression. You're acting like someone just died."

Toriel whipped around in shock and instantly called forth her fire magic. Death was sitting in a tree only a few feet behind her. His hands were folded behind his head and he was leaning up against the trunk, one eye closed. That insufferable grin was on his face as he raised one hand to wave at her.

"Sup," he said. "Miss me?"

She didn't bother answering, she just threw a fireball at him. Right before it hit, he vanished, and then she heard his voice behind her again.

"Well, your fire missed me at least," he said mockingly as she turned to face him.

She gathered another fireball in her hands but Death put his arms up and said, "Look, we both know that fighting each other is pointless. So unless you want to waste another few hours duking it out, you might as well save yourself the trouble and put the flames away."

She glared at him. She hated it, but he was right. Her flames dissipated. "Why are you here? Did Asgore send you?" she asked.

"Hmm? No, he didn't send me," he replied. "I'm here to visit, just like I said I would. Are you honestly going to tell me you're surprised? You were pretty quick off the mark there. Almost as if you were waiting for me."

Toriel's eye twitched. Death was reading her far better than she thought possible. "If you're here to taunt me, then leave. You are not welcome here."

"Who said anything about taunting you? I'm just here to chat. And now I'm curious. What exactly would I be taunting you about?"  
Toriel narrowed her eyes. He was really starting to get on her nerves. "Finding me of course. I'm sure everyone was delighted when you brought them the news. How did you find me anyway?"

"Well, for starters, finding you was actually pretty simple once I figured it out. All I had to do was look for a place without any death. I'm starting to wonder why no one else thought of it."

Toriel's heart sank even lower. She had hoped that it had been luck which let him stumble onto her hiding place. Now she knew that she would never be able to hide again. Not from him at least.

"As for everyone's reaction," he continued. "Well, I'm afraid there isn't any reaction. Because no one else knows anything about this place."

She looked at him with a stupefied expression. "You… you didn't tell anyone?"

"Look, lady," he said. "I told you last time that I didn't come here looking for you. No one sent me. So I decided to hold my tongue for the time being."

"Why would you do such a thing?" she asked.

"Think of it as a peace offering. I'd rather not have to fight you every time we meet."

Toriel remained silent for a minute. He seemed sincere, but his idea was ludicrous. Peace? Between them? They were Life and Death, complete and total opposites of each other! She was willing to acknowledge that physically fighting was a waste of their time, but there would never be any peace between them.

"While I am grateful that you've kept my Sanctuary a secret, I'm afraid it doesn't change anything. You are an abomination, a creature that exists only to destroy what I have made. How can you possibly expect me to accept a peace offering from a creature of Darkness such as yourself?"  
"By using the word 'yes'," he said with a smile.

"No," she snarled. "There can never be any true peace between us. Begone, creature of Darkness and do not return."

It was Sans's turn to sit in silence. That wasn't quite the reaction he'd been hoping for. He thought that keeping her hiding place a secret would be enough to get her on decent terms with him, but apparently not. He needed to get her talking more. Time to try a different angle.

"Why do you call me that?" he asked.

Toriel had turned to walk away but she paused at his question. She looked over her shoulder, eyes filled with irritation and hate. "Call you what? An abomination?"

"No, that part I understand," he replied. "You have a low opinion of me, I get it. I'm talking about the whole 'creature of darkness' thing. Seems like a low blow, don't you think?"

She turned back around to face him fully again. Now her eyes showed traces of confusion. "I call you a creature of Darkness because that is what you are," she said.

"Look, I know you hate my guts, but its not like I'm completely evil or anything. I have a job to do and I do it. I'm still a god, made of the same stuff as you are."

Now, there was pity in her eyes. "Are you truly so ignorant of yourself?" she asked.

Sans was starting to get a sinking feeling. "Explain."

Toriel sniffed and gave him a look that was almost a smirk. "I can see right through you, into your very being. You may be a god, but you are not like me. I was born of the stars, molded by and filled with their Light. You are the exact opposite."

"Uh, news flash. My body's made of stardust just like yours."

Toriel bent her head in a slight bow. "True. Your physical body was fashioned from the dust of a dead star, but that is where our similarities end. I, more than any other god, am one with the Light. And I sense no Light in you."

Sans was starting to sweat. "You're lying," he stammered.

"Am I?" she challenged. "Think, God of Death. My powers, the power to create, the power to mold souls, and breath life into others comes directly from the starlight within me. How is it possible for the same power to do the exact opposite? Why do you think that a completely new god was needed to usher death into the world? It is because none of the rest of us were capable of fulfilling that role. Not unwilling, but incapable. Life is a force that comes directly from the Light, and so to undo Light, the opposite force is needed. I call you a creature of Darkness because Darkness is what makes up the core of your being. You were made from it. The power that runs through you is the same power that was once wielded by Chaos himself. That is why there can never be peace between us. If you still doubt me, why don't you ask those who created you? Although seeing as how they've kept you in the dark so far, I'll bet they won't tell you anything."

Sans simply stared, unable to fully comprehend what he was being told. As much as he wanted to deny it, what she said made perfect sense. But why would Gaster and the others keep this a secret from him? Toriel looked rather pleased with herself. "For once, you don't have a comeback," she said.

"I think I've overstayed my welcome again," he replied. "I need to get going anyway. The humans aren't going to reap themselves, you know."

That wiped the smug expression from Toriel's face. She clenched her fists, thinking about throwing another fireball at him. It would be pointless though. "Good, I don't want you here anyway."

The God of Death vanished into thin air. Toriel gazed at where he had departed for several minutes to make sure he was truly gone. Then she sighed. She had won this encounter, but what surprised her was her reaction. At first, she was elated and quite proud that she had managed to blindside Death so badly. On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel pity for him. Had he truly not known? She had been telling the truth when she said she was closer to the Light than any other, but the Darkness within him should be blindingly obvious to any god. Perhaps Asgore had ordered everyone to keep the truth from him, although she couldn't fathom why.

 _"I still can't believe he thought he was fashioned from Light like the rest of us. Maybe now I can get him to turn his back on his purpose. If he thought that Death was a product of the same Light that gave birth to me, then it might explain why he has no issues destroying my creations."_

That was the most optimistic thought she'd had since her first battle with him. She began walking back to her garden at a much brisker pace, whistling one of her favorite tunes. Strange how a surprise visit from Death had ended up making her day. She snorted at the thought. Talk about irony!

Sans traveled to the celestial realm, and he didn't waste any time. He headed straight for Gaster's house, making absolutely no effort to hide his presence. He wanted him to know he was coming, and that he wasn't in the mood to play games. This would be the second time there had been secrets kept from him, only this time they were about himself. He was going to get answers and there would be hell to pay if Gaster tried to hide the truth from him.

 _"Not this time, old man. Not this time."_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Sure enough, Gaster was standing outside his house waiting for him. He stood, arms crossed and one eye cocked in a scolding expression. As Sans walked up to him he said, "You really shouldn't project such a menacing aura. You driven off every god within a mile."

"Well, I really can't help myself right now," he replied. "I'm a little ticked off."

"About what?" Gaster asked.

"Not out here."  
Gaster let out a long suffering sigh. "Fine," he said. "Come in and we'll talk."

Sans walked into his house and took note of the place. Literally nothing had changed. He thought about heading to his favorite spot on the couch, but he firmly decided to stay standing. He wanted Gaster to know he was serious about this.

Taking note, Gaster said, "If you're so upset you won't even sit so we can talk like civilized beings, then you might as well spill it already."

"Civilized beings, huh?" Sans replied. "Funny, I would've thought that a civilized being such as yourself wouldn't be keeping secrets from his fellows. Especially when they directly involve him."

"Just what secret are your referring to?"

Softly, Sans said, "My birth."

Gaster went motionless. The two of them stared at each other for the longest time before he spoke again. "I see."

"I see?" Sans said. "That's all you have to say!? You deceived me! Kept me in the dark about my own birth! You betrayed me!" he half shouted.

Gaster didn't move. This was the first time he'd ever heard Sans raise his voice. "Sans…" he began.

"Not one word unless its for the purpose of explaining yourself," Sans said. "I trusted you. I thought of you as a friend." After a brief pause he added, "Hell, I thought of you as my father. And now I know that my own father didn't even tell me the truth about my creation. Try to imagine what I feel like right now, cause I'm pretty sure you can't."

Gaster, for the first time in years, was stunned. He had no idea that Sans had felt that way. He took a brief moment to scold himself. After all the lecturing he had given Undyne and the others about trying to understand Sans, he had ignored his own advice. He'd blithely assumed that he knew everything about him.

"I'm sorry," he finally said aloud. "It was never my intention to cause you any distress. You said you think of me as a father, and I am glad you do so. I have always thought of you as a son, but it is clear to me now that, as a father, I have failed you. I will tell you whatever you want to know."

Sans felt his rage begin to recede. He could feel the sincerity behind Gaster's words. He crossed over to the couch and sat. "Alright. Then start talking. I know that you and all the other gods are made of Light, and I've discovered that I might not be. So tell me exactly how I was created."

Gaster took a seat himself and said, "Though I'm not sure how you discovered it on your own, your suspicions are correct. You are not made of Light like myself. You were born from Darkness."

"Why?"

"I suspect you already know the answer. To counteract Life, which was a power given by Light, we required an opposite force. Thus, we had to use Darkness when we created you. Otherwise, you would be incapable of becoming a God of Death."

"But how did you do it? I thought only Chaos could wield the powers of Darkness."

"True. However, while Chaos was beyond our reach, his power had already infiltrated our world before you were created. Do you remember the story of how I found the corrupted human?"

"Yes…" Sans said. He was putting the pieces together now. "So when you cleansed him, you didn't just destroy the Darkness you extracted? You saved it."

Gaster nodded. "Yes. Originally, I had hoped to study it as a way of learning more about our enigmatic foe, but then we realized that I could use it to create you."

"So I really am made from his power."

"Yes, but that is the only thing you have in common with that monster. Isolated from its master, the Darkness I extracted from the human changed, becoming less like a hostile force and more like a free entity. Your powers may be derived from Chaos, but your soul is your own. You are a god who wields Darkness as an ally, and you have dominion over it. It cannot control you. And you use it everyday to keep Chaos out of our world." He smiled. "The irony never ceases to amuse me."

Sans sat there, thinking about what Gaster had said. "If that's true, then why bother hiding this from me?"

"We were worried about your reaction. You have to understand that your creation was something of a historic moment. No one had ever attempted to create a god before, and we weren't sure how it would work. Would you have memories? Feelings? How much would you know about the world you were being brought into? There was extreme risk involved, using the Darkness the way we did. For all we knew, you could have be born as loyal servants to Chaos. Luckily for us, that didn't happen."

"Okay, that explains why you didn't tell me then. Why didn't you tell me when it was apparent that I wasn't evil?"

"I didn't want you to feel alienated. Asgore, as well as myself, believed you would feel more comfortable and accepted thinking that you were of the Light as we are. Of course, there was also a more pragmatic reason."

Sans rolled his eyes as Gaster paused. Was he really going to have to pull the truth out of him one word at a time? " _What_ reason?" he asked.

"How much do you know about our war with Chaos?"

"Not much. It never seemed relevant to my job. And you're dodging my question."

Gaster smiled. "Not really. It just takes some background to answer it properly. I won't go into all the details, but the main point you need to understand is that we did not win that war as we are now."

"Wait, what?" Sans asked. Where was he going with this?

"There's a reason Chaos was so feared. He possessed enough power to wage war against all of us at once. Honestly, we spent most of the war running from him, trying to figure out a way to fight him on even terms. We stood our ground a few times, but it only resulted in casualties. Eventually, however, we found a solution: the inner Light."

"Inner Light?"

"Yes. You see, our powers and status as gods comes from the Light that dwells within our souls. While we were running from Chaos, we, meaning myself, Gerson, Asgore, and Toriel, realized that we could directly tap into that power. By unleashing our Light, our powers were magnified immensely, giving us the edge against Chaos."

"Just how powerful did it make you?" Sans asked.

"None of us know for certain, but I would wager that we were at least ten times as powerful."

Sans raised his eye-sockets at that. Gaster, not to mention the other gods he'd named, was powerful enough as he was to do quite a bit of damage to the world should he ever snap. Multiply that by a factor of ten and…

"I guess I can see why you'd be worried. That much power is dangerous," he said.

"More than you know," Gaster replied solemnly. "You see, tapping into the Light requires incredible skill and focus. Not to mention a complete certainty of one's purpose. The process is also a risky one. Light, like Darkness, is a force of nature and is not something we can control completely. To date, only five gods have managed to unleash it successfully: the four of us I named earlier and Undyne. There were several other gods who attempted to unleash the inner Light, but for one reason or another they failed to keep their power in check. Ultimately, their Light destroyed them, disintegrating their souls."

Sans nodded. "And since I'm made from Darkness…"

Gaster completed his thought, "We have no idea what would happen if you tried to tap into it. Though I cannot be completely sure, my own hypothesis is that should you ever lose control over your power, your inner Darkness would consume you. The destruction you would be able to unleash would be a significant threat to the world's balance."

"I see," said Sans.

"Simply put," Gaster continued, "we didn't want you or your brother to experiment with your abilities beyond what was necessary to perform your duties. We were afraid that if you pushed the limits of your powers, it would result in catastrophe."

Sans sighed. Things were finally beginning to make sense. Now he understood why most of the lesser gods feared him the way they did. To them, he probably seemed like a miniature version of Chaos. Most of them were probably terrified that one day he'd unleash his Darkness on the world. To top it all off, there was nothing they could do about it either. They had to take Asgore's word that he was necessary to keep their realm stable, but who knew how many of them harbored secret doubts about him?

"All right," he finally said out loud. "I'm not sure I completely agree with the reasoning behind the decision, but at least I understand it now." He paused, and then looked Gaster right in the eyes. "However, this is the last time I want to have a conversation like this. If there is anything else you're keeping from me that I should know, you better tell me now. If I find out later that I'm still being kept in the dark, you are really not going to like what happens."

"I understand," he replied. "And again, I'm sorry this caused you the pain that it did."

Sans didn't answer right away, he was still processing everything he'd been told. Gaster seemed to be telling the truth, but there was something off about the whole story. As if there was a missing piece.

"There's still one thing that's been bothering me," he said. "How did you know what to do?"

"I'm afraid you've lost me," Gaster replied.

"How did you know how to make me? You said that it had never been done before, and that you didn't know what would happen. If that's the case, how did you even know how the process worked? Better yet, how did you and the others figure out how to tap into your Light? It all seems suspiciously convenient to have happened by chance."

"Ah, of course," Gaster said. "I forgot, but there is one other secret we've kept from you, although it does not directly concern you."

Sans eyes narrowed. "Well, I don't care if it concerns me or not. No more secrets. What is it?"

Gaster stood. "It will be easier to show you. Meet me at the throne room in the palace."

He disappeared with a flick of his cloak. Sans sighed. Why did he always have to be so mysterious about everything? He stood and teleported to the palace.

When he arrived in the throne room, Gaster was in the middle of some sort of spell. He waved his hand and Sans felt him unleash a small portion of his magic at Asgore's throne. The throne began to move backwards, revealing a staircase hidden underneath. Sans began to walk towards it, but Gaster reached out and stopped him.

"Not yet," he said. "Give me a minute to take down all the wards. If you try entering before I'm finished… Well, let's just say you'll have a bad time."

Sans shrugged and let Gaster work. It gave him time to think anyway. First of all, why was there a secret passage here? And why was it guarded by magical wards? Wards weren't unheard of, they were routinely used by many gods to safeguard personal items, but they were usually just simple warning systems. No one ever set up wards that could be harmful, if only for the sake of keeping good relations with anyone that might accidentally trigger it. Besides, it would take an enormous amount of energy, not to mention a great deal of killing intent, to craft a ward that could legitimately threaten a god. Although, now that he thought about, Gaster was probably capable of cooking up some real nasty stuff. He focused his magic into his eye. It shouldn't hurt to take a look.

He regretted the decision immediately. The moment had he begun to examine the magic making up the wards, he was struck with a psychic impulse that almost drove him to his knees. The impulse was designed to inflict pain and confusion, startling anyone trying to figure out how to bypass the wards. He focused, clearing his head and bringing out more of his magic in a defensive shield around himself. The mental attack faded away, allowing him a good look at what Gaster had built.

"Wow," he said softly. Gaster had not been joking. The defense he had created was vast and complex. Sans couldn't even figure out what most of the wards did, let alone how to take them down.

After a few minutes, Gaster cast another spell, one that was far more intricate than anything Sans could have ever done, and the wards faded. They didn't disappear completely though, and Sans got the sensation that they could be snapped back into place at a moment's notice.

"What's so important that it merits all the security?" he asked.

"You'll see soon enough," Gaster replied. "Follow me."

He started down the staircase, with Sans walking a few paces behind. As they descended, Sans felt a growing apprehension fill him. He couldn't place the feeling, but he knew that something wasn't quite right. It was as if the space around him was different somehow.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a medium sized room, empty except for a large object that stood in the middle. It stood at least eight feet tall, and was covered in some sort of cloak. As they walked closer to it, Sans felt the strange sensation he'd been feeling abruptly intensify. Whatever it was, it was the source.

"What is this thing?" he asked.

"This is our kingdom's greatest secret. Only the original royal council knows of its existence, and now you are the fifth god to learn of it. It is the secret to how we created you, and how we came across the knowledge to defeat Chaos. Gerson and I believe that, like Chaos, it came from outside our reality."

Despite the tension of the moment, Sans rolled his eyes. Would it kill him to give a straight answer?

"Yeah, I guessed all that already. What is it, _exactly_?"

"This," Gaster replied, "is The Mirror."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Sans stood there, unsure if he was supposed to be impressed or shocked about Gaster's big revelation. Before too long, the silence got awkward and he finally spoke up. "So what's the big deal about this mirror?"

Gaster smiled, as if he'd been waiting for him to ask. "The Mirror is an artifact of unknown origin that we discovered while on the run during the war. As to it's purpose, it shows us visions."

He paused again, seemingly satisfied with his response. Sans turned and faced him directly. Seriously, what was with the whole mystery vibe? Had Gaster always been like this?

"Visions of what?" he asked.

"It varies," he replied. "There seems to be no set of rules on how the Mirror functions. Sometimes it shows us visions of past events or events that could happen in the future. Sometimes the visions are clear and concise, almost as if someone is deliberately trying to get a message across. Other times, they are as vague as can be. Even stranger are the visions that seem to be of completely different universes. I've seen visions of you Sans, but not as a god, but as some sort of mortal standing guard over a large door. I've seen visions of myself, working in a lab. Once, I saw a vast war being waged between our kind and the humans, one which we eventually lost."

He stopped again, giving Sans time to gather his thoughts. "So somewhere along the line after you found it, it gave you a vision that showed you how to unleash your Light?"

"Precisely," Gaster said. "The Mirror also granted us a vision detailing the ritual used to create new gods. The strangest part of all this it that we can't tell if these things happened purely by chance or if there's another power at work here. On one hand, the knowledge it granted us seems to have been intended to aid us. After all, we were able to defeat Chaos and then create you to maintain the balance. However, the visions containing the knowledge we needed seemed to occur at random. We were lucky it showed us how to use our Light before Chaos destroyed us. The vision that revealed the ritual for creating gods occurred several years before you were born. And then, of course, there are the visions of alternate worlds that don't seem to have anything to do with us. It's quite the conundrum really."

Sans nodded. He had hoped to get a solid answer for all of the convenient events he'd noticed, but it turned out that Gaster was just as clueless as he was. Some sort of magical mirror that occasionally gave visions that just happened to contain the solution to the biggest crisis in history? He wouldn't have believed it if he weren't standing right in front of it.

"Why does it give off such a weird vibe? I've been on edge since we walked in the room."

"The Mirror causes a sort of distortion in time and space. Nothing large enough to threaten the fabric of reality, but large enough to be noticeable. To be honest, I believe it is simply a side effect of its abilities, not to mention further evidence to the theory that it is not of our world."

"So how does it work? Do you just look into it?" Sans asked.

"Yes. Hence the sheet covering it. I can take it off if you want, but its possible nothing will happen. The sheet's just there so we don't get hit with a vision without warning."

"What will I see?"

"Even I cannot say. I can tell you that the Mirror rarely shows a vision to more than one person, so its likely that only you will be privy to anything it shows you. If it shows you anything at all. As I said earlier, there seems to be no definitive rules associated with it. Sometimes months will go by between visions. Sometimes its barely a few seconds."

Sans smiled. "I'll take my chances," he said.

Gaster shrugged and waved his hand. The large sheet fell off the Mirror. Sans looked into it and saw nothing but his reflection. He stood there, staring at himself for a few minutes wondering if anything was going to happen, but nothing did. If it wasn't for the distortion he was sensing, he'd have sworn he was looking into a regular old mirror.

He sighed. "What a waste of time," he muttered.

He turned to Gaster. "All right, let's go. This thing isn't doing anything."

Gaster didn't reply. He just stood there, staring at him.

"Uh, old man? You there?" Sans asked.

Still no reply. Sans took a few steps closer before he realized that Gaster wasn't just ignoring him. He wasn't moving at all.

"What the heck?" he said.

"Waste of time? That's not very polite," said a voice behind him.

It wasn't a voice he'd heard before, but that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that someone had managed to sneak in the room without him or Gaster noticing. Sans whirled around, but there was no one behind him. The only thing he saw was the Mirror. He looked at his reflection again, and then did a double take. His reflection was smiling, and he wasn't.

"I mean, seeing as how you're talking to yourself, you should probably be polite," his reflection said.

Sans had no idea what was going on. Was this some kind of trick? "Who are you?" he asked.

His reflection cocked an eye-socket. "What are you blind? I know you technically don't have eyes and all, but seriously. Don't you know when you're staring Death in the face?" he replied.

Sans couldn't think of anything to say. He was talking to his reflection. Maybe he really should take some time off the job. He might be going crazy.

"Nah, you aren't going crazy," his reflection said.

What the? Was he…

"Reading your mind? Not really. I'm you, so I'm allowed to know what you're thinking."

Sans, for the first time in his life, was completely stunned. Of all the crazy scenarios he'd pictured himself in, this was not one of them.

"What's wrong?" his double asked. "Didn't you want to see me? I mean, you had Gaster take the sheet off. Or were you expecting something like this?" His reflection raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the entire room vanished, save himself and the Mirror. Pictures began to fly by, showing him snapshots of his life. Sans glanced in every direction, trying to decipher what he was seeing.

"Look, pal," his reflection said. "I can't do all the work here. You have to at least meet me halfway."

His words snapped Sans back into focus. With the focus came the realization of what was happening.

"This is a vision, isn't it?" he asked.

His reflection smiled. "Now he gets it."

Sans mind raced. This whole thing was being shown to him by the Mirror, but why? Was he supposed to learn something from this?

"If you don't understand something, its usually a good idea to ask a few questions," he reflection said.

Sans glared at him, but his double simply stood there, grinning. "Fine," Sans said. "Why are you showing me this?"

"Me?" his double asked, raising his hand to his chest in an innocent gesture. "I'm not doing anything. As to why… Well, let's just think of this as a ice-breaker."

"Ice-breaker?" Sans asked.

"Yeah. You know, something you do in order to build rapport with someone. Although this is probably the first time someone's had an ice-breaker with themselves."

Sans kept glaring at him. Was he really this annoying? "Ok, so what? Are we gonna have dinner or something?"

His reflection shook his head, still smiling. "Sorry, bud. Ain't got time for that. But I do have time for a few questions."

"Questions? What kind of questions?"

"How should I know? You're the one who looked into the Mirror. Means you were looking for an answer to something. But in order to get answers, you have to ask the right questions."

Sans already knew what he wanted to ask about. "What can you tell me about Chara?"

His double seemed to muse it over for a second before, "She really doesn't like you."

"Tell me something I don't know," Sans retorted.

His double shrugged. "Well, you should have been more specific. But fine. What if I told you Chara is going to start hurting a lot of people? Maybe even kill some of them."

"What!?" Sans blurted.

"Sure. I mean, it stands to reason. She's on a warpath my friend, and she's not going to be all cuddly when it comes to getting what she wants. Of course, she might not move for a while yet, but," He paused, before adding, "Maybe you should see for yourself."

He snapped his fingers again, and Sans saw dozens of scenes of Chara, wielding a scythe eerily similar to his own, torturing humans before cutting them down. He was seeing potential future murders, and none of them were pretty. Just as abruptly as they started they disappeared, leaving him alone with the Mirror again.

His reflection continued, "Thing is, people don't usually torture others unless they're trying to get something out of them. So you might want to try to figure out what she's after."

"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Sans said. "I can't even find her, let alone get a sense of what her goal is."

"Come on, you're better than this. If your prey continues to elude you, then you should probably spend some time learning how to catch it. Just how much do you really know about Chara anyway?"

Sans was about to spit back a harsh reply, but that last question stopped him. "Not much," he admitted grudgingly. Then he said, "But its not like there's anybody that really knows her that I can talk to."

"Have you tried talking to her parents?" his double asked.

"Parents?" Sans asked incredulously. "She doesn't have any parents you numbskull! She was…" he stopped speaking as he realized what his double was getting at.

"She was created," his reflection finished for him. "Created directly by a certain someone. Someone that you know exactly how to find. Perhaps you should pay another visit to her."

"Are you kidding me? She hates my, or our I guess, guts."

"No one said it'd be easy."

"Says the guy who isn't even real."

His reflection gave him a wide grin, and then his eye-sockets were suddenly empty. "Trust me buddy. If you don't figure out what Chara is after and find a way to stop her, you are really not going to like what happens next."

Before he could do anything, he was immediately surrounded by half a dozen Gaster Blasters, one of his signature attacks. They fired as one, and then he saw nothing but white.

Meanwhile, in the human world….

"Please," the temple acolyte said, her whole body shaking with fear. "I don't know where they are, I swear!"

She could barely see anything in front of her. It was if a curtain of shadow was obscuring her attackers. She was pinned to the floor by several vines and the numerous thorns were inflicting more pain than she had believed possible.

"I highly doubt that," one of her attackers said. The voice sounded incredibly young. "But I suppose you might be telling the truth."

"I've told you everything I know. I don't know where they went, no one around here does!"

"Really? Well, then I guess you're of no more use to me then."

The vines holding her down lifted her body into the air and held her about a foot off the ground. The acolyte saw the shadows move, and then a small girl walked out of them. She made a short gesture and a blood red scythe appeared in her hand. She placed the blade against her throat.

Now her other assailant spoke. "Go ahead," he said. "Call for help. Cry out into the darkness."

The acolyte couldn't help herself. "Help!" she cried, hoping someone would hear her. "Someone, please! Help me!"

The small girl jumped up into the air and just floated there, hovering face to face with her. She couldn't look away from those pitch black eyes. The girl smiled and said,

 ** _"But nobody came."_**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Chara, we need to go," Flowey said urgently. He dropped the acolyte's corpse on the ground and prepared to burrow away from the temple they had invaded.

Chara didn't respond. Instead, she was surveying the temple, letting her gaze drift to each of the statues that adorned it's walls. She stopped and clenched her fist when she arrived at the pair of Asgore and Toriel. Flowey rolled his eyes. She'd been in a mood the past few days. He understood why she was getting frustrated, but now was not the time to let her emotions run the show.

"Chara!" he said, a bit more forcefully this time. She turned, half-glaring at him. That glare had two meanings. One, what do you want? Two, don't push it. By now, Flowey was used to it. She didn't like it when he reminded her of the reality of a situation, but she was far too practical-minded to lash out at him for it.

"We need to go," he repeated. "You killed a human, which means it won't be long before Death shows up, and we both know we aren't ready to take him on yet."

Chara stared at him for a few more moments. Then, she nodded. "Fine," she said. She gave the statues one last hate-filled look before she vanished into the shadows. Flowey sighed, and burrowed after her. One of these days, her emotions would get the better of her, and when that happened there would be a huge mess. Flowey himself was confident he'd never face such a problem. He really didn't feel much emotion these days. Oh, he was still angry at his and Chara's betrayal, and he had every intention of getting revenge on those responsible. That anger was always in the back of his mind though. A reminder of the goal he was working towards, but not much more than that. When it came to day to day moments, he'd discovered that he didn't really feel anything at all.

Take their most recent mission for example. They had infiltrated a temple to interrogate the head acolyte. Once Chara realized she didn't have the info she was searching for, she just killed her. If he was honest with himself, Flowey had to admit that he had leaned towards sparing the young woman, but only because killing her created a small chance that Death would catch up to them. As for the morality of the killing itself, he was largely indifferent. What was he supposed to feel?

Sickened? Nope. Killing her didn't really bother him. She was an acolyte, a servant of their enemies. Besides, she might be dead, but her soul would live on. Its not like her existence had been completely erased.

Should he feel satisfaction, then? Not really. An enemy she might have been, but Flowey couldn't blame her for following the teachings she had been raised in her entire life. She hadn't known the truth like he did. Besides, there was nothing personal in her death. She had simply been an obstacle in their plan.

Mostly, he just felt cold and empty.

Of course, none of that really mattered to him anyway. He might not have much in the way of emotions, but aside from their vengeance, the only thing he cared about was making Chara happy. Is she got any amount of pleasure from killing acolytes, then so be it. He would do anything to ease her suffering.

 _"Just you wait, Death,"_ he thought. _"One of these days I'm gonna rip your soul into shreds. And I'll definitely feel happy about that."_

Meanwhile, Death himself felt like someone had just hit him over the skull with a sledgehammer. He found himself lying on the ground, and his vision was blurry as he opened his eyes. He began to push himself up, and instantly felt someone grab him.

"Easy, Sans," Gaster said. "Take it easy. Hold still and reorient yourself first."

Sans did as he was told, and the blurry vision passed soon enough. He slowly sat up with Gaster's assistance and glanced around the room. The Mirror was covered by its sheath again, aside from that nothing had changed. He looked at Gaster and asked, "What happened?"

"Well, you looked into the Mirror and after a few seconds you fell over unconscious. I suppose I'm to blame for that. I forgot to mention that seeing visions from the Mirror can sometimes be quite taxing on the mind. Though I didn't expect anything too dramatic considering this was your first time. I'd say you got more than you bargained for."

"You can say that again," Sans muttered. Had that entire vision really only lasted a few seconds? He cold have sworn he'd stood there looking at himself for several minutes before he tried to leave. Was this due to the space-time distortion the Mirror gave off? He shook his head. Those questions could wait till later. The disorientation was fading fast, and he stood up and brought his hood back over his head. "I suppose you want to know what I saw?" he asked.

"Only if you want to tell me," Gaster replied. "Sometimes, visions can be of an extremely personal nature, so if you'd rather keep it to yourself, I understand."

"No, it wasn't anything like that," Sans said. He gave Gaster a brief summary of what he had seen, but he left out the parts about Toriel.

"Strange," Gaster mused. "That's probably the single most interactive vision that I know of. To think that you had an actual conversation with it."

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I realized I was taking to myself. I think the theory that the Mirror might have a mind of its own just got a lot more believable."

"Indeed," Gaster said. "As far as I am aware, no one has ever spoken with anything or anyone during a vision. Of course, there are only four, five now, people that have ever gotten a chance to see a vision, so I suppose its still plausible to consider that it was just a random event."

"Honestly, I doubt it was random," Sans interjected. "My first time looking into the mysterious and potentially all-knowing Mirror and it not only talks to me but talks about Chara? I'd bet you anything that wasn't a coincidence."

"I'm inclined to agree," Gaster said. "In any case, I think we should take the Mirror's advice and try to learn anything we can about Chara. If the Queen were still here, she would be the logical person to ask, but she's not. I'll look over my records as well as the palace archives to see if there's anything of use. I suppose I ought to try locating the Queen too, even though I don't want to."

Sans picked his words with care. He needed to sound interested and impartial, without letting Gaster pick up on the fact that he already knew how to find her. "Why wouldn't you want to?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" Gaster replied.

"Well, I know its not a secret anymore that I really don't like her, but it seems like everyone else would be ecstatic to have her come home. I kinda wondered how she managed to go into hiding anyway. Surely someone must have tried to stop her."

Gaster smiled ruefully. "No one tried to stop her. In fact, Asgore ordered us to let her go."

Sans felt his eye-sockets rise. "Really? First time I've heard that."

"I assure you its the truth. Oh, the king was truly heartbroken over Toriel's decision, but the only way he could have stopped her was with force, and he didn't have it in himself to do that. Besides, its not like the mortal realm had anything truly dangerous enough to threaten a goddess of her power. As for myself, having helped bring you into this world, I figured she probably wouldn't be very happy to see my face. Furthermore, I decided I would respect and honor her decision. If she ever wanted to return, or to be found, she would see to the matter herself."

He paused, smiling faintly at some old memory before continuing. "However, it appears that I no longer have any choice. As much as I want to respect her privacy, the security of our world comes before everything else. I will do what I can to locate her."

"Do you think you can do it?" Sans asked.

"I do not know," Gaster said. "Its simply a matter of how well she's hid herself. Toriel is one of the few gods that are on par with me in terms of magical power and ability. I would say the odds of me finding her would be no better than even."

"I see," Sans replied. It amazed him that someone as bright as Gaster hadn't figured out the trick to locating Toriel yet. Maybe it would come to him when he started trying, but for now Sans decided to go with it and hope for the best.

"All right then. I guess I'll head back out into the field. I'll keep an eye-socket out for Chara while I'm reaping souls. First though, I think I need a nap."

Gaster chuckled. "Sweet dreams then. Until next we meet."

"See you around old man."

Sans teleported back to his house in the Underworld. He was looking forward to this nap. Between his most recent encounter with Toriel, his confrontation with Gaster, and the vision the Mirror had given him, he was worn out. He ought to have a nice deep sleep ahead of him. Which is why he let out a mental groan when he heard Papyrus's voice shouting at him from behind. He hadn't even made it two steps towards his room yet.

"Sans! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

Sans turned around and forced himself to smile. "Hey bro. Sorry to worry ya. I was just upstairs having a chat with the old man."

"Oh, really?" Papyrus replied. "I suppose that's okay then. But anyway, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. I think I might be broken!"

"Uh, broken? What do you mean?"

"The strangest thing happened today. I had just finished my reaping and came home when I got another death vision. Only, this person had already died!"

Sans only looked at his brother with an air of confusion mixed with exasperation. "I'm afraid you've lost me Paps."

"Sans! Haven't you been paying attention? Whenever I see the name of a human, its always before they die. This time, I didn't see the name until a few minutes after."

Sans perked up at that. That was strange. "Well, did you get the soul?" he asked.

"Of course! I am the great Papyrus! Even if its a little late, I always do my duty."

Sans shrugged and said, "Well, as long as you got the soul, I think you're good. Who was it anyway?"

"A temple acolyte."

Sans froze. An acolyte? And the death hadn't been detected by Papyrus until after it had occurred? It could just be a coincidence, but after the past few hours he wasn't taking any chances.

"Why don't you take me to where the body was, just to be sure," he said.

Papyrus shrugged and walked over to him. He laid a hand on his shoulder and teleported them both out of the Underworld.

They arrived in a temple, and in what appeared to be the main chamber. The brothers floated in the air above the body of the young woman. She was just now being discovered by the other acolytes, and several present were crying. Sans took it all in, but he focused on the injuries she had sustained. The cause of her death was evident, her throat had been cut wide open. She had several much smaller injuries all over her body. As he examined closer he noticed the wounds looked similar to needle marks, but they were too rough to have been made with needles. Sans needed only a split second to figure the rest of it out. Thorns. Those were thorn wounds, undoubtedly made by Flowey. In addition, every single one of them was located right on a major nerve. The woman had been tortured before she died.

Sans no longer doubted anything the Mirror had shown him. Its predictions were already coming true. He grimaced at the thought.

 _"I guess I'll be paying a visit to Toriel after all,"_ he thought.

He turned towards his brother and said. "Ok, I've seen enough. Don't worry, bro. You aren't broken."

"Really!?"

"Really. Now come on, let's go home."

They teleported back to their house and Sans walked up to his room without another word. Somehow, he didn't think he was going to sleep well after all.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The forest was just as peaceful as he remembered.

Sans had wondered why Toriel had been willing to give up her entire life as Queen to live amongst humans, even if they were her creations. And, of course, her fury when she realized her own husband was going to to not only allow but order the creation of Death had undoubtedly been immeasurable. Despite those circumstances, Sans had never quite understood why she would give up everything she had, her status, friends, and even her own family, just to defy Asgore's decision. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized how much the calm tranquility of her chosen abode would appeal to her. She was free here, able to do as she wished without worrying about the reactions of others. Then again, it was also likely that she realized she would need to escape to a quiet place in order to control herself. Sans had no doubt that if Toriel had remained in the heavens, she would have attempted to intervene during the ritual of his birth, with potentially disastrous consequences. She was likely aware of that herself, which could have led to the decision to remove herself from the temptation.

Those thoughts carried him to the outer edge of her Sanctuary, and he raised an eye-socket as he realized the barrier was still up. More than that, it had been substantially reinforced, probably in an effort to keep him out. He snorted at the thought. The only reason he'd bothered with walking in the normal way was to give himself time to think about the best way to approach her. He could've just teleported straight in, and she knew it.

 _"Well, I don't really feel like taking this thing down again,"_ he thought. _"Not worth the effort. Looks like I'm taking a shortcut after all."_

Toriel was waiting in her garden, her apprehension growing as she sensed Death's approach. Having met him twice now, she knew exactly what his presence felt like, and she picked him up as soon as he set foot in the forest. She'd been mulling over his chosen path in her head as he drew nearer. Last time, he had just appeared right behind her, why was he bothering to walk through the whole forest? Was he doing it just to taunt her? Did he want her to feel his slow, inevitable approach? A small part of her suggested that her reinforced barrier made it impossible for him to just teleport straight in, but she throttled it almost instantly. She wasn't going to fall victim to that mistake. She could not afford to underestimate him, and he'd already proven that he was easily her equal in terms of power. Now, she felt him stop at the edge of her Sanctuary, no doubt he'd noticed her barrier. Then, his presence vanished, and Toriel rose as she felt it materialize in front of her.

Death appeared out of a swirling cloak of shadow, his form moving like liquid, but quickly solidifying. His scythe was sheathed on his back, and he regarded her with clam, dispassionate eyes. She hated those eyes. They seemed to stare into her, as if they could see everything she'd ever done. All of her triumphs and regrets laid bare. And yet, they also looked at her without a trace of condemnation. As if, despite the fact that he knew how much she hated him, he no longer blamed her for it.

And that made it infinitely harder for her to label him as nothing more than a monster.

Sans himself was only slightly aware that his gaze was having any kind of effect on Toriel. He watched her closely, and his experience in judging humans showed him the subtle changes in her face and emotions. She was… upset? Or perhaps irritated. As if she couldn't accept her own feelings. Sans gave himself a mental shake and decided to get on with the business at hand.

Toriel, however, beat him to it again.

"Why did you return?" she asked.

Sans mulled over his response before settling on, "Thought I should let you know you were right. I had a nice long chat with my old man, and he spilled the beans. Seems I'm made of Darkness after all."

 _"Old man?"_ Toriel thought. _"He must be referring to Gaster."_ She wasn't surprised by that. It didn't take a genius to realize that Gaster was pretty much the only god capable of creating something like Death. More importantly, he was admitting that she was right, which meant she might be able to stop him from reaping her children.

"And have you decided to change anything now that you know the truth?" she asked.

Sans's eye-sockets narrowed at that comment. _"So that's what she was hoping for when she dropped her little surprise on me. She wants me to abandon my duty. Of course, if I had a choice, I probably would."_ But giving up his purpose as the God of Death was the one thing he simply could not afford to do. The balance of the world depended on it. He might laze around, and only do the bare minimum necessary, but he could never give it up completely. Unfortunately, trying to make Toriel understand that was not going to improve their relationship.

"Eh, not really," he replied.

He saw the spike of anger in her eyes, and he raised a hand before she could reply.

"Look, I don't know exactly what you expected, but in hindsight, the fact that I'm made from Darkness really doesn't change anything about what I have to do. So I'm not made of the same stuff you are. Who cares? I'm still just as real as you, and as far as I'm concerned that's all that matters."

Toriel seemed to sag. Her last hope that she could rid herself of Death's curse had just vanished. She gave him another glare and said, "You've said what you came to say. Leave."

Sans hesitated. He hadn't gotten a single clue about Chara from her yet, but his instincts told him that trying to get anything out of Toriel right now was not a good idea.

So he simply shrugged and said, "Fine," and he disappeared with a flick of his cloak. Toriel watched him go, and then she broke down, sobbing into her robe.

Sans laid down in his bed with a sigh. It had been about a year since he last spoke to Toriel, and in that time, he'd discovered three more instances of Chara and Flowey's bloody handiwork. All of the victims had been acolytes, and they'd all been tortured for something. He'd come close to catching them after their last kill. These days, he and Papyrus always went reaping together and Papyrus was detecting Chara's victims quicker each time. Sans himself had also honed his powers to the point where he could teleport to a person instantly just by thinking of their name. As soon as Papyrus told him about that third victim, he'd been at the scene. As quick as he was though, Flowey had been slightly quicker. The single lance of blue fire he'd launched at the demonic flower had missed by barely a second, but it had missed. Still, his partial success seemed to have inspired a certain amount of caution in his targets. There hadn't been anymore incidents for over eight months now. Things were starting to get boring again, and that made him uneasy.

 _"I wonder if Toriel has calmed down enough by now?"_ he wondered. He had tried returning to the Sanctuary the next day after their brief conversation, but she had only thrown fire at him on sight. He shuddered as he recalled her face. She'd been crying, and her anguish was so great it seemed to have its own presence. The life she had created in her Sanctuary had seemed to droop in response to her rampant emotions. She hadn't been any better a week later.

After a month of trying to get any response besides an attack out of her, he'd given up. She obviously needed some space, but how long did she need? Gods were eternal, so he had no idea how long it could take before she regained her senses. In the meantime, Chara was still running free, and if she wan't inflicting any damage right now, it was only a matter of time before she made her next move.

He sat up, and got ready to teleport. It was worth a shot. Worst case, he just had to dodge another one of her fireballs. Best case, she might actually talk to him.

He appeared in his traditional spot just outside the central clearing, and he sensed her presence instantly. She was standing over by her flower bed, rearranging the blossoms into new patterns. She finished her work, turned around and slowly walked over to him.

 _"She looks better,"_ Sans thought.

"You're here again?" she asked. Her tone oozed exasperation, as if she didn't really expect a reply.

Sans smiled. Well, things were already going better than he had hoped. He teleported into the top of the nearest tree and laid back. Toriel followed him with watchful eyes, and one of her hands twitched by her side. Looking down at her he said, "Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. Just pretend I'm not here."

Her face scrunched up for an instant before she let out a deep sigh and relaxed. She turned her back on him and began gathering her magic into her hands. Seeds formed and sprouted as she molded the new plant into existence. "Why are you even here in the first place?" she said. "Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Sans replied. "I really should be out reaping souls right about now. Would you rather me do that instead?"

Toriel spun around and almost threw a fireball at him out of reflex. She stopped herself, and considered what he'd just said. His ability to twist words had only gotten better since their last argument, and she couldn't find a way out of this one. Damn him.

"Fine," she said, her voice tinged with frustration. "Do what you will."

Sans only grinned back at her. Finally, something approaching genuine socialization. If he kept this up, he might actually get a full conversation out of her.

He sat there, watching her move about her garden, ignoring him. She planted new trees, watched as new animals were born. She occasionally sat down and meditated, probably overseeing the birth of new humans. Sans watched it all with an air of fascination. For a moment, he was able to forget about his mission concerning Chara as he watched Life work her miracles.

After a few hours, he realized the sun was beginning to set. He'd have to leave soon. He wasn't going to learn anything about Chara this visit, but so far he was moving in the right direction. Maybe he could get her to talk to him one more time before he left. He was working on a good way to start a conversation when he saw her bend over a bird's nest that was about to hatch. An impish grin spread across his face. He had the perfect joke for this.

He silently teleported right behind her and said, "What do you call it when the firstborn kicks its sibling out of the nest? An _eggsecution_!"

Toriel turned on him, her face a mixture of anger, irritation, and a very faint flicker of amusement. Flames crackled around her as she said, "If you don't leave me alone, I will incinerate you."

"You're welcome to try," he replied. "I wouldn't though."

"Oh?" she said.

"What makes you so sure I won't let slip where you've been hiding all this time?"

Toriel's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."

Sans winked at her. "Oh, I would. I know I said I decided to keep quiet about this place, but I can always change my mind. And I'm sure Asgore would reward me for letting him know where his runaway wife went."

Actually, given that he had ordered the rest of the gods to let her go, he probably wouldn't, but he didn't see any reason to bring up that particular point right now.

"I am _not_ his wife, and he no longer has any business knowing where I am," Toriel said sharply.

"Then be nicer to me, and I won't tattle."

Toriel stared at him for a few moments before saying, "Is this blackmail?"

Sans grinned evilly at her, before he raised his hands and said, "Nah, just a joke."

Toriel drew back, her face surprised.

Sans glanced at her out the corner of his eye. "Think about it," he told her. "If I tell everyone you're here, then where am I supposed to go to laze around without anyone bugging me to do my work?" He turned and smiled at her again, and this time there was some genuine warmth in it. "You're the only one who's ever let me off the job."

Toriel watched him, her eyes wide. She saw a wistfulness in his eyes, such as they were. She frowned, and lowered her head as she considered his words. Finally she looked up and quietly said, "You sound like… you don't really like your 'job'."

Sans stiffened. He hadn't meant for her to figure that out. He quickly reached up and pulled his hood over his head, but not before Toriel got a glimpse of his shocked expression. Without looking at her he said, "It makes me _bone_ -tired."

He departed, leaving Toriel alone once more. She thought about what he had said, and about what she had seen on his face. For the first time in what seemed like ages, she felt a smile pull at the corners of her mouth.

"Ha….."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Why do you do what you do?"

The sudden question took Sans by surprise. He glanced down from his favorite spot in the top of the tree and found Toriel standing there. He'd been coming to the Sanctuary almost everyday now, trying to get more info out of her, and she had stopped objecting to his presence weeks ago. They hadn't talked much, but Sans had sensed some kind of awkwardness between them, as if she was immensely curious about something, but was working up the courage to ask. Well, now he knew.

"You mean why do I reap souls?" he asked, and she nodded. He shrugged and said, "Someone has to. The Balance wouldn't survive if I didn't."

"I realize that," she said. Sans was surprised how calm she sounded. "But is that the only reason? Do you take any pleasure in your work?"

Sans considered lying, but she'd already worked out that he didn't care for his job. "Nope. There's nothing really personal in what I do. Humans are meant to die. When their time comes, I show up and reap them. End of story."

"What happens to their soul?" she asked.

Sans frowned for a moment. She was awfully nosy all of a sudden. He didn't see any harm in telling her though.

"When a soul is reaped, its taken to the Underworld where I judge it. Based on the life the human lived, they are either granted a eternity of peace, or one of punishment."

A grimace flickered across Toriel's face. Sans saw it and snorted to himself. He had a feeling she wasn't going to like the whole judgment thing. Well, that's how it worked, whether she liked it or not.

"I see," she said after a few moments.

"So what's with all the questions?" Sans asked.

Toriel glanced at him and said, "I am simply trying to understand you better."

His eye-sockets rose at her response. Seeing his reaction, Toriel smiled and said, "Does this surprise you?"  
"A little," he acknowledged. "I seem to recall you saying that there could never be any true peace between us. This gesture of goodwill seems a little fishy to me."

Toriel's smile faded a bit. "Ah," she said. "I suppose it would seem that way to you."

Now it was Sans turn to frown. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She looked him in the eye and abruptly said, "You're name is Sans, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Come with me and I will explain what I meant."

She turned and started walking to the center of her garden. Sans felt his hopes rise. She was actually acting civilized towards him. Maybe he could finally get somewhere now. He hopped out the tree and followed after her.

They reached the center, where the largest tree in the garden was situated. Toriel sat down, resting in the shade, and Sans followed suit. He realized she was looking past him, and he turned and saw the patches of dead grass where his footsteps had fallen.

"Sorry," he said, turning back to her.

She shook her head. "It is not your fault, it is simply your nature." She waved a hand and magic flowed out from her. The dead patches quickly vanished, replaced by vibrant new grass. She smiled briefly, and then her expression turned serious.

"Sans, what do you think it means to be a god?" she asked.

The question caught him off guard. Now that he considered it though, he realized it was a question he really didn't have an answer to.

"I'm not really sure," he said slowly.

Toriel smiled. "It is a question that the gods have asked themselves since the dawn of creation. A complete answer continues to elude us, and it probably always will. However, we have learned much since we first came into being. Much about the world, and much about ourselves as well."

She paused, making sure he was still following her. He nodded and she continued, "You have been a god for quite some time now. Tell me, do you consider yourself free?"

"Free?" Sans asked.

"Yes, free. Free of purpose, free to do whatever it is you desire."

Sans responded almost instantly, "Of course not. I mean, I can do whatever I want on my time off, but I still have a job to do."  
"Exactly," Toriel said. "Think about it. We are gods, and our kind are the lords of creation. We wove reality into existence, established order from nothingness, and brought reality under our domain. Compared to humans that live in the mortal realm, we must seem like beings that are above rules, above limits. And yet, each of us is bound by our duties. Most gods never realize it, but we all have our inescapable roles to play, our purpose that drives us to maintain the Balance."

Sans nodded. He understood what she was getting at. Take himself for example. He hated his job, but he did it anyway. If he didn't, the Balance would fall apart. However, despite how much he hated his work, he had never once considered trying to find a way out of it completely. Laze around? Yes. Do only the bare minimum? Yes. But give it up completely? The thought had never crossed his mind.

"Ok," he said aloud. "I get all that."

"Then you should be able to understand the conclusion that comes from that knowledge. Our purpose, our identity as gods not only defines the roles we play, but it defines who we are as people as well," she said.

Sans sat back, eye-sockets rising. "Uh, what?" he said.

Toriel giggled at his stupefied expression. "It is true. Our personalities are rooted in our purpose. Look at me. I am the Goddess of Life, and life tends to be messy. Life is also very irrational. It involves emotions, not just reason and logic. Humans often do things that don't make any logical sense, and yet many of them never even think about it. I am the same way. Though I am capable of thinking with logic and reason, I will always follow my heart before anything else. It is who I am, and I cannot change that, just like I cannot simply stop giving birth to new souls."

"You, on the other hand, are Death." Sans was staring at her intensely now. "Death is a very rational concept. You were brought into this world to bring balance to me. When you reap, you do so without prejudice or discrimination. It does not matter what kind of human they are: rich or poor, young or old, strong or weak. You come for them all, the only question is when. As such, you see the world primarily through the eyes of reason. You see what must be done in order to preserve the Balance, and you will do your duty without hesitation even if it earns you the fear and hatred of all those around you. Your personal feelings, as well as the feelings of others, never come before the practical demands of reality. That is why you were suspicious of my questions earlier. You knew that I harbored extreme hatred of you in the past, and your logic told you that I could not have possibly changed that position. After all, how could Life not hate Death? You exist to reap the lives I create, so it would be only logical for me to hate you. The idea that I would be willing to try to understand you in an effort to establish a better relationship defies that logic. I'm sure many of my other actions seemed quite incomprehensible to you at one point."

Sans was dumbfounded. She had it exactly right. He had always found her work fascinating, largely because he never understood any of the reasons behind it. Now he realized that there had never been a reason, not a rational one at least. She was Life, reason took second place to everything else. Come to think of it, that also explained her initial reaction to him. She hadn't cared about the fact that he was needed to keep the Balance. The only thing she had cared about was the fact that he was the one who was reaping her creations, and how could she not hate him for that?

"Guess that explains our first meeting," he said.

"Indeed," she said, her face solemn. "We are Life and Death, it was only natural that we would clash. Our instincts are too ingrained for anything else to have happened."

Sans nodded, then frowned. "So if our purpose is so important to who we are, how are we even having this conversation right now? You make it seem like we should be at each other's throats all the time."

"Yes, well…" Toriel began. She drew a breath, gathering her thoughts. "I may follow my heart, but another of Life's traits is the ability to accept that bad things happen. To know that though I might suffer, life will go on, and the world will keep on turning. I admit, I hated you, and wanted nothing to do with you even though my reason told me you were necessary. In time, however, I was able to accept that you were essential to our world. I began to realize that you did not reap the souls of my children because you were a monster of Darkness, but rather because you were a god who was simply doing his duty. I cannot blame you for that. Especially now that I know you don't particularly care for your job."

Sans felt his cheekbones heating up. "Uh, thanks, I guess."

Toriel smiled at him. "If there is anyone to blame, it would be Asgore. He is the one who decreed that Death be brought into this world. He is the one who saddled you with a burden you do not wish to bear. However, the deed is done, and we cannot reverse it. So I decided that the best thing to do is to continue forward without blaming you for circumstances which were outside your control."

Sans smiled. "So I guess this means there can be peace between us after all?" he asked.

Toriel nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes. And I would like to thank you for your patience while I came to my senses. Now, having said all that, I am very pleased to meet you Sans."

Sans stood and gave her a flashy bow. "Pleased to meet you as well, Your Majesty."

Toriel laughed. "Please, Sans. I gave up my position as Queen a long time ago. My name is Toriel."

"Well, Toriel," Sans replied, "I appreciate the history lesson. A lot of stuff seems a lot clearer now." He grinned sheepishly. "Now I know why my old man never gives me a straight answer."

"Yes, I'm afraid Gaster has always been like that," Toriel said. "It made council meetings quite interesting at times."

"No kidding," Sans said. In fact, based on what she had told him, Sans was willing to bet that Gaster would have to make a serious mental effort to not be mysterious. He shook his head. She probably didn't know it, but Toriel's information solved so many of his questions regarding his peers. Undyne's short temper made a lot more sense when you considered that she was the Goddess of War. Alphys's fascination with anything and everything would only be expected from a goddess tied to knowledge. How many other quirks had he failed to pick up on?

"Sans?"

He shook himself. "Sorry, didn't mean to leave you hanging."

Toriel gave him a brief smile, but then her expression became serious again. "Um," she said. "Now that we've decided to be at peace with one another, there's something I wanted to ask you about."  
"Ask away," Sans replied, his own expression curious.

"I was wondering, am I correct in assuming that my daughter has passed on?" she asked.

"Daughter?" Sans asked in reply. "Uh, don't you consider all human women to be your daughters?"

"Oh, yes, I do," she said. "But in this case, I was referring to one of my original daughters. I don't know if anyone ever told you, but the first seven humans I created were special, I had created them to be the messengers of the gods. I love all of my children, but I have a special connection with those seven. Their souls stand out to me, like bright stars in the night sky. And, well…" she paused and took a deep breath. "Many years ago, shortly after I left the heavens, I felt my connection to one of them break. It was my eldest, Chara."

Sans devoted every ounce of his willpower to keeping a straight face. He had not expected to stray into this minefield right now. Toriel's voice had grown quieter as she spoke, now she looked at him with a look that was almost pleading.

"Please, Sans. I must know. Did she die? Has her soul passed on into the afterlife?"

Sans stared at her and once he was sure he had control over his voice he said, "Chara was the first human I ever reaped." Toriel stiffened, but he continued before she could say anything, "I didn't know who she was then, but Gaster filled me in afterwards. I'm not sure if this is what you want to know, but she fulfilled her mission as an acolyte. She never stopped ministering to the people, and she always held the gods in high regard. A soul like hers would never find punishment in the afterlife. She is at peace."

"I see," she said. The tension slowly flowed out of her body and she managed a small smile. "I see," she repeated. "Thank you for telling me."

Sans only nodded. He was still grappling with what he had just done. Somehow, he felt that lying to Toriel about Chara's fate was going to haunt him in the future. But what was he supposed to say? 'Sorry, I screwed up your daughter's reaping and now she's a corrupted agent of Chaos!' She would never speak to him again if told her the truth.

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Though it came out of nowhere, he'd finally gotten her to talk about Chara. He couldn't afford to blow this chance now.

"Actually," he began, "I've always been curious about her. When I first met her, I knew she was special, but I never got a chance to get to know her. And everyone apparently knew who she was. Think you can tell me about her? If it doesn't bother you, of course."

Toriel smiled again, this time with more warmth. "No, its okay. I would be happy to tell you about her. After all, you're probably the only god who doesn't know how much she meant to all of us. Please, sit, and I will tell you her story."

Sans nodded and sat back down. Finally, he was going to get what he had come for.

"Chara was the first human I created. She was always such a bright and cheerful child. She had her weaknesses, of course, mainly an intense obsession with chocolate, and…."

Sans sat quietly, listening attentively to Toriel's story. Try as he might, he couldn't shake the lingering feelings of sorrow and guilt from his mind. Toriel didn't know that he was going to use what she told him to hunt Chara down. And if he had his way, she never would either.

He'd caused her enough pain already. The least he could do was spare her the knowledge of what he had to do.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Until next time, Toriel," Sans said as he departed.

"Indeed. Until next time, Sans," Toriel replied.

He gave her a final wave goodbye before flipping his cloak and teleporting back to the Underworld. Surprisingly, he had enjoyed his time with Toriel a lot more than he though he would. She knew how to tell a good story, and it was clear that she loved to dote on her children. Talking about Chara had made her enthusiastic, almost giddy. Every tiny detail imaginable, from her first bath to her arguments with her siblings to her favorite foods, Toriel knew them all. To be honest, when it came to details that could help him hunt Chara down, most of the story had been useless. He had expected that though. As he had hoped, however, Toriel had given him a few clues.

One, Chara was confident. Too confident. Created to be the Acolyte of Faith, she had been given a strong and determined personality. This had manifested itself in her ability to preach boldly to the masses, as well as the charming disposition that swayed so many congregations to listen to her messages. Determination was the single biggest point of her character, and that tracked with how she acted when he had tried to reap her. Of course, as Toriel had pointed out when she described some of Chara's more interesting adventures, overwhelming amounts of confidence was not always a good thing. If he could catch her off guard, or at the right moment, he could probably force a confrontation. Knowing Chara, she would likely be inclined to test her strength against his, which would give him the opportunity to fix his mistake.

Two, she had a tendency to let her emotions run the show. High levels of passion for her work had been a benefit for her life as an acolyte. Now, however, it could be her downfall. Sans was one the few gods that still practiced combat. His training sessions with Gaster had taught him that a level head was the most important thing in a fight. Those that let their emotions take over made bad decisions and usually left themselves wide open. Given that Chara clearly hated him to no end, he was confident she wouldn't be able to check her emotions in any battle they might have.

 _"Besides,"_ he thought as he chuckled to himself. _"If there's one thing I'm good at, its getting on people's nerves."_

Three, Toriel had told him about Chara's favorite place in the world. She had built a small shrine in a secluded grove when she first set foot in the mortal realm, and had always returned to it after one of her pilgrimages. Chara might not hold the gods in high regard anymore, but she was still human, or close enough anyway. Humans, among other things, were creatures of habit. He was willing to bet she'd make frequent stops by that shrine if she wasn't hiding out there regularly. If nothing else, she'd probably use it as a catalyst for her hatred.

 _"Still, this will be a little tricky. I don't want her to catch on to my presence if she is going to be there. Not until I'm ready to strike. I'll need to set up some form of surveillance. And it needs to be as stealthy as possible."  
_ Course, subtlety wasn't one of his strong points. He mulled the situation over in his mind. He could go to either Gaster or Alphys for help on this one. The choice was rather clear though. Alphys had been inquisitive enough over the scrying crystal. If he asked her to create some magical surveillance equipment for him, she'd demand to know what it was for.

"Oh well," he said aloud. "Back to the old man, I guess."

He found Gaster working in his lab, underneath his house. He'd set up a scrying crystal of his own, although his was much lager than the one Alphys had made, and it was surround by a whole bunch of equipment that Sans had never seen before. He turned around as he noticed his presence.

"Welcome back, Sans," he said. "Any luck?"

"Not yet," Sans replied. "But I might have some ideas." He twitched his head at the crystal. "That certainly looks impressive."  
Gaster smiled. "Indeed," he said. "Unfortunately, I still haven't found any trace of the Queen. I'm afraid we're out of luck unless she decides to unveil herself."

 _"Oh, if you only knew, old man,"_ Sans thought. Out loud, he continued, "Well, we knew that was a long shot anyway. I may have come up with a new plan, though."

"By all means, elaborate."

Sans nodded, and proceeded to explain his idea of setting up surveillance in spots where Chara might pass through.

"Hmm…" Gaster mused. "It certainly has some potential. But the mortal realm is vast. The chances of us picking Chara up are rather small."

"True," Sans acknowledged. "But its better than nothing."

"I know. I'm just playing the devil's advocate. However, there is another issue at hand."

"What issue?"

"We can certainly set up magical surveillance wherever we want, but how did you plan on monitoring them all? Neither one of us has the capacity to focus on the number of feeds, not if we're going to have enough of them to give this a shot at working."

"Huh. Didn't think about that," Sans said. He thought it over for a second and said, "Well, what if instead of setting up an actual surveillance feed, we just set up some kind of silent alarm? Throw some wards up that will notify us whenever dark energy gets near it. You already know what mine and Papyrus's energy feels like, so you can make us exceptions. That only leaves Chara and Flowey."

"Excuse me?" Gaster said, surprised. "Who's Flowey?"  
"Hm? Did I not mention him before?"

"No, you most certainly did not."

"Oh. Strange. Anyway, Flowey is this sentient flower that's been running around with Chara. I'm not exactly sure what he is. He obviously has power beyond that of anything mortal, but if he's a god, then I've never heard of him."

"That is indeed strange," Gaster replied, his face troubled. "How often have you interacted with this Flowey?"

"Only a few times. And I've only had words with him once, when he tried to ambush me. He mentioned something about being friends with Chara. Right before he tried to impale me with a bunch of thorns."

"Interesting," Gaster said. "Well, I can tell you that there's never been a god who goes by that name. Nor have I ever heard of a god displaying those kinds of powers. I suppose it could be one of Chaos's creations, perhaps part of his power that was able to manifest itself into a physical form. That's just a theory though."

"Eh," Sans shrugged. "It doesn't really matter all that much. Based of my few encounters with him, he doesn't really possess all that much power. Now, he could kill mortals in job lots, but he's no threat to you or me. The only thing that matters is that his energy will set of those alarm wards just like Chara's will. Besides, ever since my first fight with him, he seems to always be by her side, so if we spot one of them the other should be there as well."

"I see your point," Gaster said. "Very well. I will teach you a ward that will suit this purpose. With the design you had in mind, it shouldn't take both of us to keep track of them. You likely know the mortal realm much better than I do by now anyway. I'll let you set them up as you see fit."

"Sounds good to me," Sans said. In fact, it sounded fantastic. If Gaster wasn't going with him to set the wards up, he wouldn't have to worry about explaining why he was putting them up around a small shrine out in the middle of nowhere.

"Alright then. The spell is a basic one, so you shouldn't have any trouble with it."

After he finished guiding Sans through the steps of the ward, he said, "Good luck. I will remain here and continue searching for the Queen."

"Right," Sans replied. "See ya around." And he teleported out.

It wasn't very hard to locate the shrine that Chara had built. Toriel had given him the exact location, more or less. Once he arrived, Sans felt a grin tug at the corner of his mouth, despite the scene that laid before him. The shrine had been desecrated all right. It had been reduced to rubble, and the once pleasant grove it had stood in was now covered in thorns. The twisting vines blocked out most of the sun's light, and the place almost felt like a cave. It definitely looked like a den of evil. Hopefully, Chara was still using it as a home base. If not, well he didn't lose anything by setting up a few wards here anyway.

 _"I better take some extra precautions,"_ he thought to himself. _"Chara's attacks have been focused on the temples. Better set some up in every major city."_

He made his rounds to all the prominent temples he could think of, focusing on the quarters of the various acolytes that ran them. By the time he finished, it was well into evening, and he still had some reaping to do. Papyrus would no doubt scold him for missing dinner again. He grimaced at the thought. _"Oh well. At least its been a productive day."_

He took one last look around the temple he was in and then he teleported to the first soul on his list.

Back in the Sanctuary, Toriel lounged under her favorite tree, thinking about her talk with Sans. She sighed wistfully. Finally having someone to talk to about Chara had helped her a lot. Now that she thought about it, Sans was probably the one person who could truly understand her pain. She had finally been able to get some sense of closure for her daughter's death.

She let out another long sigh. At the same time though, talking about Chara had only reminded her of the gaping hole she felt at her core. She closed her eyes, and envisioned her first children. Six sensations, too difficult to describe with words, flooded back to her, assuring her that they were all still alive. She treasured the feeling, but as much as she treasured it, she felt the cold emptiness where the seventh member of her original children should be. Chara had burned brighter than the others, and her loss still left its mark.

She rose and strode over to her garden, savoring the peace and tranquility. The emptiness still chewed at her and she resolved to do something about it. She couldn't bother Sans with constant talks about her children that had passed. She told him that she had accepted his existence as necessary, and she wanted to prove that she could move on, just like her children did.

How was she supposed to move on, though? The void Chara's death had opened within her soul would never go away. She could attempt to ignore it, but every instinct told her that would be impossible. But if she couldn't ignore it, then what could she do?

 _"Perhaps,"_ she thought, _"I don't have to ignore it. My children across the world deal with death by holding on to those they still have with them. In fact, many survive the heartbreak of their parent's deaths by renewing and strengthening their love for their children."_

She paused. _"Their children…"_

She thought a moment more until an idea struck her. Perhaps she didn't have to live with that aching void in her heart. Perhaps she could fill it with a new soul. A new child, a special child, just like her firstborn.

 _"But it is right to do such a thing?"_ she wondered. _"Would it be a betrayal of Chara's memory to simply replace her?"_

Worry added itself to the barrage of emotions running through her. Would her dead daughter feel betrayed by such an act? Or would she want her to be happy, accepting that another would have to fill the role she could no longer play? And did any of that even matter? Chara was dead, did she even care about what happened in the mortal realm any longer?

Toriel paced back and forth through her garden, contemplating her situation. _"No,"_ she thought. _"No one could ever fully replace Chara, or any of my children. They are all unique, and I love them all the same. But perhaps it is time I stopped persisting in my misery and fill this void that torments me so."_

She smiled, and reached inward for her magic. Magic she hadn't fully utilized since that fateful day so long ago.

 _"You will not be another Chara, my child,"_ she said to her future creation. _"Not a replacement for her memory, but rather a tribute to it. And I can think of no better person to be modeled after."_

A new soul began to take shape in her mind, and Toriel, Goddess of Life, felt the shadows of her own soul disappear before its gentle and innocent light.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Darkness swirled in the shadows of the temple gates, and two figures silently emerged into the pitch black night. Moving quickly and quietly, they infiltrated the temple and began working their way towards the acolytes' quarters. Progress was slow, but steady, and they were careful to stay out of sight. After how close Death had come to ending them last time, they were taking no chances.

 _"To be fair, though,"_ thought Flowey as he followed in Chara's wake, _"it's not like I have to be super cautious."_

Which was true, sort of. His status as a god, or former god, depending on how you looked at it, meant that he couldn't be perceived by most humans unless he willed it so. His power wasn't strong enough to hide his presence from someone like the temple's high acolyte, who communed with the gods on an almost daily basis, but it was more than sufficient to hide himself from the lower acolytes and other temple workers. And since he had absolutely no intention of running into the high acolyte, or any other mortal with enough soul power to sense him, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Shouldn't" had become one of his least favorite words lately, however. It had been a shock when Flowey realized that human magic truly was capable of sensing his presence, albeit limited to those with strong souls. Only the older and more experienced acolytes, whose souls had benefitted from constant prayer and communion with the gods, had souls powerful enough to allow them to wield magic. Flowey had never realized that humans would be capable of wielding magic, but when he thought about it afterwards, it made sense. Or rather, it made sense that there wasn't any specific reason why they couldn't. Magic came from the soul after all. It had just never occurred to him that anything less than a god's soul would be able to manifest any type of magic. Still, the number of humans that could use magic were few, and those that could exert any kind of control over it were even fewer. The first human that had been able to see him hadn't been able to use any spells. The unfortunate individual in question had possessed enough soul power that it had granted him magical senses, the ability to see things ordinary mortals couldn't, but he hadn't known anything about using magic for practical purposes. It was a shame he'd never have the chance to learn. As soon as Flowey realized he'd been seen, he had reacted with brutal and overwhelming force.

Truth be told, he rather regretted that. The kill had been completely unexpected and unplanned. Furthermore, Death had been hot on their tail and had arrived mere moments after the deed was done. They had barely escaped and had to abandon their mission. Chara had been furious, and hadn't talked to him for over a month. And again, to be fair, she'd been somewhat justified in her anger. Unlike him, she couldn't mask her presence from humans the way a former god could. She always had to keep out of sight, and she had berated him ruthlessly for being careless.

Though now that he thought about it, Flowey wondered exactly why it was that she couldn't veil herself from other humans. She could hide from Death, couldn't she? Why wasn't she able to hide from humans if she could avoid the gaze of the gods? Did her powers grant her magical shielding at the expense of physical vulnerability? Or was it simply because she was still technically human, and therefore she would always be visible to them?

For that matter, where exactly did Chara's powers come from anyway? She had always been special, he knew that better than anyone. She was the first human ever created, and her soul had been the strongest Flowey had ever seen, not including the gods of course. If anyone asked him who could possibly have powers beyond the ordinary, he would have bet on her every time. But her new powers were something beyond any magic a human should be able to wield. They had practiced battle in preparation for the day where they took the fight to the gods directly, and they continued to train at least once a week even now. In all that time, though, Flowey had never won a single one of their training matches, despite being a former god. In skill, ruthlessness, and raw power Chara had outclassed him.

Easily.

Which again begged the question of how she had become so powerful. Flowey was certain it wasn't just by her own will. A human soul could become fairly powerful, but there were limits on how strong a mortal could grow. No, something or someone had given her that power. Something definitely not mortal. Flowey had no idea what though. If it was another god, one who also wanted to rebel against Asgore and the others, Flowey felt sure he would've been introduced by now. Everytime he tried to bring the subject up, however, Chara had shut him down. Shut him down hard and fast. So he was left with no option but to let his imagination fill the gaps.

 _"Eh, who cares,"_ he thought. _"Its not like it matters anyway."_

He continued to follow in Chara's wake, admiring the way she went about their task. She radiated an aura of danger, one of concentrated muderous intent. Her face was like stone, with almost no emotion at all. Well, there was one word that came to mind when he thought about how to describe that expression. Flowey smiled. It might be taking longer than either of them ever thought it would, but they would have their revenge sooner or later. He only had to look at that face full of **determination** to remind himself of that.

Chara herself was unaware of Flowey's thoughts, not that she would have cared about them anyway. Flowey was her partner, but that didn't mean much. She had to admit he was useful, especially when it came to interrogating their victims, but if he ever proved to be more of a liability than an asset to her plan, she would end him without hesitation. She wondered if he realized that?

 _"He'd better,"_ she thought. _"In fact, he's lucky I didn't kill him after that last blunder of his."_

Intellectually, she knew that hadn't really been his fault. She had been just as surprised as he had when that acolyte shouted at them, demanding to know who they were. And she had to admit, she approved of Flowey's response. The acolyte's death had been swift, and eliminated the possibility of any other potential witnesses arriving on the scene. Of course, his demise had also brought Death straight to them, and he'd nearly incinerated them both.

Her face tightened in anger, as it always did whenever she thought about the God of Death. If there was one god who needed exterminating, he was the one. Not that she had any intention of stopping there. They would all feel her wrath, but she was saving something special for Death himself. A quick end was far too insufficient for the agony he had inflicted upon her. By the time she was done with him, he would be begging her to end his existence.

She smiled at the thought. That smile faded quickly, however, as she realized they had almost reached their destination. The acolyte's quarters lay before her, paths branching out to individual rooms and offices. She crept among the various buildings until she found the one she was looking for. The temple library was traditionally part of the acolyte's quarters since its resources were intended primarily for the acolytes' use. More importantly, it also served as the residence of the acolyte serving as the temple's librarian, who often doubled as the historian.

She saw the flickering light of a candle shining through the window of the bedroom located on the upper floor of the building, and that smile returned to her face, only now it was much broader than before.

 _"I'm going to enjoy this,"_ she thought.

The librarian in question was named Morgan, and she was finishing her preparations for bed. She sat down on the edge of her bed and let out a deep sigh. It hadn't exactly been a busy day, but it hadn't been completely relaxing either. At least she didn't have to sit through another speech about safety precautions and temple security again. The attacks on acolytes that had happened about a year ago had shocked the temple communities. Never before in human history had temple acolytes been murdered, assassinated really, on the sacred grounds of the temples themselves. Accidental deaths, sickness, and the occasional incident where someone went missing, yes. Murders, however, had been unheard of. Despite the fact that many people no longer held the gods in high regard, people still gave the established temples a significant amount of respect. Even those that disagreed with the temple's doctrine had admitted that the services provided by the acolytes were beneficial to the communities they lived in. Outright violence against those in the temple's service had always been avoided, especially with the practice of magic becoming more common among the ranks of the clergy. Morgan had seen what some of the senior acolytes were capable of, and she was certain that no potential assassin wanted to draw their ire down upon them.

 _"Not that I'm a slouch myself,"_ she thought contentedly. Magic had always fascinated her, and she honed her skills daily. In fact, she was due to be elevated to an upper-acolyte soon, and she was planning on joining the Order of Gaster when it happened. The God of Magic's order had only recently been established, as it became clear that more and more humans were capable of using magic. She had communed with the mysterious god a handful of times herself, and she treasured the insights he had provided her with. Her skills had grown by leaps and bounds, and she was determined to reach the heights of her ability.

 _"Who knows?"_ she thought. _"Maybe one day I'll become Grandmaster of the Order! Wouldn't that be nice?"_

She chuckled to herself and leaned over to blow out the candle on her beside table. She inhaled, and then stopped halfway. She darted her gaze over to her bedroom's door. Something didn't feel right. Did she hear something?

A feeling of unease crept into her as she slowly stood up. She took two steps towards the door, and then it disappeared as a miniature explosion tore it to pieces. She let a cry of surprise, but she also threw her hands forward in the same instant, calling forth her magic on instinct. A shield of green energy formed a dome around her, just in time to intercept about a dozen thorny vines shooting at her from the hallway. The vines bounced away from their impact with the shield, but they contorted and came swinging back around to strike at her again and again. After what seemed like an eternity, they suddenly stopped and retreated back into the darkness beyond the ruined door.

She slowly lowered her arms and let the shield dissipate, but she kept her guard up and her magic ready. She was contemplating what kind of offensive spell she should use if her attacker tried again when she heard a voice drifting in from the shadows.

"Well, well, well," the voice said. Morgan's eyes narrowed in suspicion upon hearing it. That voice sounded absurdly young, almost like the voice of a child. The thoughts racing through her mind came to a halt as someone stepped out of the darkness. A small girl wearing a simple black robe stood in the doorway. There was a sly grin on her face, and malevolence lurked in her eyes. She was definitely a child, yet her expression seemed far older. Specifically, it seemed like an adult staring at young delinquent who didn't realize how much trouble they were about to be in.

"What _do_ we have here?" she said.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Questions raced through Morgan's mind as she stood before the small girl in her bedroom. The girl who had somehow made it past all of the temple's security and had entered the library without her even noticing. Her mysterious adversary continued to smile evilly, and she started to pace back and forth across the back wall. Her eyes remained locked onto her, however, and it was those eyes that made Morgan nervous. They were the eyes of a predator, searching for any sign of weakness, and she had no doubt what would happen if she showed any.

"So," the girl said. "It seems we have an aspiring wizard on our hands. I have to admit, its a little annoying how frequently I keep running into people like you, but at least it makes things interesting."

More thorns erupted, not from the girl, but from the doorway. Morgan was ready for them. She raised her hand and called forth a stream of fire that enveloped the thorns and burned them to a crisp before they got within three feet of her. She lowered her hand, kept one eye on the black-robed girl, and said, "I know there's one of you still in the hall. You may as well show yourself."

The girl only chuckled to herself. "Quite observant I see. How did you know?"

"You just said 'we' and 'our,' which implied that you weren't alone. Besides, if I was the one going around attacking temples I wouldn't be doing it without some form of backup," Morgan replied.

The girl seemed to muse it over for a second before nodding to herself. "Observant and a quick thinker. Fair enough, I suppose," she said. "Flowey, don't be rude. Come meet our new friend."

Morgan turned one eye towards the door and saw vines creeping out from the hall. Soon enough, a golden flower appeared, riding the vines as if they were an extension of its body. The flower had a face, but it contained zero emotion. It stared at her, with a small grin similar to the girl's, but that grin felt like a mask. Despite that small smile, the strange creature looked thoroughly bored.

Morgan turned back to the girl, keeping one eye on the flower and said, "Who are you?"

"Well, my friend over there is called Flowey. Flowey the flower. Such an original name, I know, but imagination isn't one of his strengths," the girl replied.

The vines around the flower moved up and down, and Morgan realized it was shrugging. If it was bothered by its companion's comment, it showed no sign of it.

"Then again," she continued, "I was the one who gave him that name, so I guess I'm the one who lacks creativity." She shook her head, apparently amused with herself. "As for who I am…Well, that's really not important right now. What's important is that I have some questions I need answered. And you're going to answer them."

"And why would I do that?" Morgan replied.

Her grin faded. "Ah, you acolytes are always so defiant," the girl mused. "You're going to answer them because if you don't I will inflict pain upon you such as you've never imagined."

Without any warning, the girl flicked her hand and a dark orb went streaking across the room at her. Morgan barely managed to get a shield up before it reached her. The orb collided with her protection spell, and her eyes widened as she saw her shield start to break. Redoubling her efforts, she poured more energy into the spell and her shield glowed brightly for a moment before the dark orb dissipated against it. She staggered, and fell to one knee, panting.

 _"She's strong,"_ Morgan thought. She had never had to use that much energy to block a spell before, and the girl had thrown it at her with a simple wave of her hand. She had no doubt that the girl could easily take her in a straight up duel by herself. She wouldn't need the aid of that mysterious flower creature to overpower her.

She didn't need to try and fight her one-on-one though. She had to stall for time, hoping that another acolyte would notice what was happening.

"Ok, and what happens if I answer your questions?" she asked.

The smile returned to the girl's face. "Assuming you can answer them, I might just let you live. You _are_ the first person to put up a fight. Courage and skill like that should be rewarded, don't you think?"

The girl was mocking her and Morgan knew it. Still, her response revealed a few things. Morgan had studied the reports of the attacks on the other temples, and all of them had noted that the victims appeared to have been tortured. The strange girl wanted answers, and if Morgan was the first person to put up any kind of fight, it made sense that the other victims had been quickly subdued before being tortured for those answers. It was also clear that whatever this girl was searching for, she hadn't found it yet. Furthermore, if she was willing to interrogate her without overpowering and subjecting her to whatever she had done to her other victims, it meant that she didn't want to escalate things, for whatever reason. Morgan figured she hadn't counted on her target being proficient in magic, and that meant she had more leverage than she initially assumed. The girl clearly didn't want to cause a scene that might draw attention.

 _"Besides, if I play along, I might learn something about why she' s been attacking us,"_ she thought. She stood and asked, "What do you want to know?"

The girl's eyes gleamed. "Finally, someone cooperative," she said. "You wouldn't happen to know where the Goddess of Life is do you?"

"What?"

Surprise let the question out of her mouth before she could stop it. The location of Goddess of Life? Why was she asking something so obvious? Was someone with magic this strong really so ignorant?

Morgan shook herself. "She's in the heavenly realm with all the other gods, of course. Everyone knows that."

The girl sighed. "The masses are still clueless it seems. A shame, but I didn't really expect you to know anyway."

Morgan was now completely confused. What was she clueless about? Was this girl implying that Lady Toriel wasn't in the heavens any longer? Even if she was right, why would the queen of the gods leave in the first place?

Before she had time to ponder those questions, the girl addressed her again. "Moving on, here's a better question: Do you know what happened to the Acolytes of Virtue?"

"The Acolytes of Virtue?" Morgan repeated. "They're just a myth. An old church legend."

"Cut the crap," the girl said flatly. Her face twisted, and for the first time she looked genuinely angry. "You and I both know that the story is true, librarian, whatever the common dregs are told."

Morgan's eyes narrowed. This girl, whoever she was, obviously knew far more than she should. Only another acolyte should know that the old legend was true. Was this girl a former acolyte? She looked awfully young, but sometimes acolytes were trained from birth. A former temple life might also explain how she could use magic, although that didn't explain how someone as young as she appeared to be possessed so much power. Not to mention the idea of someone that young being entrusted with the truth about the Acolytes of Virtue. That information was kept to the upper ranks of the clergy; and the librarians who safeguarded the secrets of the temples. The truth behind that legend was one of the church's most closely guarded secrets, and for good reason.

"Fine," she said. "They were the first acolytes, the original messengers of the gods. Tradition says they were created directly by Lady Toriel herself. There were seven in total, each carrying a title of one of the gods' virtues. They also had the bodies of children, having lived in the golden age of immortality before mankind's sin brought death into the world. Legend has it that they could speak directly to the gods and could perceive their true forms. Some stories even say they were the first wizards, capable of magical feats far beyond normal humans. As for what happened to them, shortly after death appeared in the world they all mysteriously vanished."

"You've done your homework," the girl said. "Which means you know that they truly did exist, and that most of the stories about them are true."

"Well, yes. But they died ages ago, there's no way they could still-

"I said cut the crap!" the girl yelled.

As she shouted, her shadow seemed to expand and fan out from her body. The entire back wall was suddenly covered in darkness, and the light of the bedside candle seemed to dim in response. The flower creature's thorny vines bristled and twisted, and they rose to loom ominously, poised to strike.

"You know the stories are true," the girl hissed. "You know they existed. And you also know that they're still alive."

Morgan was about to deny lying to her, but she froze at that last statement. Whoever this girl was, she knew everything. So instead she simply nodded.

The shadows receded slightly, and the girl smiled again, managing to look more malicious than she had a few seconds earlier.

"Lie to me again, and I'll flay the skin from your living body. And that will be the gentlest thing that happens to you."

Morgan nodded again, a bit more compulsively this time. She already knew that her life hung by a thread, but the girl's threat planted a seed of pure terror in her heart. Any death she suffered at her hands would not be a painless one.

Far more terrifying, however, was the extent of the girl's knowledge. Knowing that the Acolytes of Virtue were real was bad enough, knowing that they were alive was even worse. Morgan had a sinking suspicion about where this conversation was going, and what the girl was truly after. If she was right, she wasn't going to be able to give her what she wanted. And that meant things were going to get…unpleasant.

"So, librarian," the girl continued. "I want to know where they are. In fact, I'll settle for just Bravery's location. Last time I checked, this was his home temple, so if he's hiding anywhere, its probably in this region. Tell me want I want to know, and I'll spare your life. Defy me though…"

She left that last sentence unspoken, but the gleam in her eyes said it for her. Morgan shivered as she realized that part of the girl wanted Morgan to defy her. Wanted her to give her an excuse to perform whatever atrocities she had in mind. Morgan swallowed. Unless she could think of way out of this, the girl was going to get her wish.

The truth was that no one knew where the Acolytes of Virtue had gone. They never revealed themselves in person, only communicating with the temples through extremely clandestine methods, with one notable exception. Several years after death appeared and their subsequent disappearance, the group had shown up in secret at the grand temple solely for the purpose of establishing their identities to the temple leadership. They had been the original leaders of the church, and they had ordered that the temples keep their existence a secret, which is why the temple propagated their story as legend and nothing more. Since then, they had gone into hiding and the mystery of why they'd disappeared in the first place had never been answered. The handful of messages that had reached the temples over the years had contained no answers either, only guidance on how the temple's doctrine and policy should be formed. No one in the temple's hierarchy, not even those at the top, had any idea where the Acolytes were. The fact that they were alive at all was a source of constant debate between those that knew the truth. Some argued that their divine origins made them exempt from death, while others thought they were using their powerful magic to preserve and lengthen their lives. Either way, this girl was seeking them out, and Morgan couldn't tell her how to find them.

Which meant she was about to die.

She focused, drawing forth as much of her magic as she could muster. She couldn't win a fight against this girl, but that didn't mean she couldn't make her work for it. Turning to face her, she said, "Sorry, but I don't know where they are. No one does, not even the temple leaders. Looks like you've been causing all of this trouble for nothing."

The girl didn't respond, she merely tilted her head to one side. After a few seconds which seemed like an eternity, she replied, "You're telling the truth aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Morgan said. "The Acolytes haven't told anyone where they're hiding, least of all me."

Again, there was a moment of silence. Then the girl began to float, levitating in the air about two feet off the floor.

"You know, I thought I'd be more disappointed right now," she said. "Even now, I find it hard to believe that none of you worthless maggots knows where they've been hiding, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense." She smiled. "It seemed so strange that your fellow acolytes kept choosing pain and death over giving me what I wanted."

Morgan felt herself shiver again. This girl was depraved in every sense of the word. The lives of other humans clearly meant nothing to her.

"However," she continued, "I have to say that I disagree with your notion that this has all been for nothing."

She raised her hands and darkness began to accumulate around them.

"You acolytes live such boring little lives. Spending your days safe in the temple with your every need satisfied. Every detail of your lives all nice and organized. So much order. So much balance. Tell me, where's the fun in that?"

Morgan raised her hands, gathering her own magic into her palms, and said nothing. The girl laughed and darkness in her hands formed two orbs, each far larger than the one she had attacked with earlier. Shadows rose up and filled the girl's eyes, turning them completely black.

 **"Allow me to give you a taste of chaos!"** she yelled, and the darkness shot forward like an unstoppable tidal wave.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Dark energy rushed towards her and Morgan crouched, threw her hands forward, and summoned her shield once more. This time, however, instead of forming it into a disc right in front of her, she changed the angle and planted it in the floor. It stretched out diagonally, and as the darkness reached her and slammed into the shield, the force of its impact sent it streaming off at the angle she had created and it went soaring harmlessly over her head. Morgan allowed herself a small smile of triumph. She couldn't take the girl's attacks head on, couldn't cancel them out with equal force, but for the moment she was able to redirect them enough to avoid taking any hits herself. The girl's spell collided with the back wall of her room and Morgan's eyes widened as it simply blew the wall clear off the building.

The sound of the impact reminded her of an explosion, and it was quickly followed by the sounds of wood and stone crashing on the ground below. She refocused her attention on the strange girl and gathered more magic into her palms, anticipating her next attack. The girl only smiled and launched more dark attacks at her. Her dark magic seemed to be able to take on any number of forms. It lashed out at her as orbs, whip-like tendrils, blades, and even simple streams like the fire she had called up earlier.

Morgan assumed her defensive stance and began to block and dodge. She moved from side to side, redirecting any attack she wasn't fast enough to avoid. The entire onslaught lasted for maybe a full minute before the girl paused again. She folded her arms and cocked her head to one side, and her smile threatened to spilt her face.

"Wow, you are good!" she said excitedly. "Its such a shame that talent like yours is being wasted in service to those pathetic gods."

Morgan only stared at her, breathing heavily. _"Damn,"_ she thought. _"I can't keep this up much longer. One more assault and I'm done for."_

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the huge opening the girl's attacks had created in the wall. If she could just find an opening, she should be able to escape through it. She could already hear the sounds of confused and alarmed voices coming from outside. The commotion seemed to have awakened her fellow acolytes. If she could just make it outside…

Her thoughts were interrupted as a mass of thorny vines shot towards her. She dove to her left, barley evading the attack. Wood crunched and splintered as the vines came crashing down and drove right through the floor. Fending off the numerous attacks from the girl had caused her to momentarily forget about the flower creature still in the doorway. Now she realized the only reason she had survived this long was because the two of them had been attacking her separately instead of coordinating their efforts.

As she watched, though, the girl's face flashed with anger and she turned her head towards the flower. "Stay out of this!" she shouted. "If I want your help I'll ask for it! Don't ruin my fun!"

 _"Now!"_ Morgan thought. This was the chance she had been waiting for. She turned and bolted for the huge hole in the wall. The girl was quick though. "Get back here!" she yelled, and she threw yet another dark orb at her back. Morgan threw her hands down and behind her as she ran, and called up one of the first spells she had ever learned. She unleashed a simple blast of kinetic magic at the floor and the force of the spell lifted her off her feet and propelled her through the air. She flew through the opening and began falling to the ground, the dark orb missing her only by a few inches. It continued onward, sailing off into the night. Morgan put her arms out and summoned her dome shield again. Her dome hit the ground and broke under the impact, but it had absorbed most of the force of her fall. She landed in a heap and slowly sat up. She had the wind knocked out of her, but other than that, she was fine. Well, maybe not so fine. She still had demonic killer child on her tail, after all.

 _"I need to get help,"_ she thought desperately. _"If she comes after me…"_

As if on cue, she heard the girl's voice behind her. "Did you really think you could escape that easily?"

She was floating a few feet off the ground, a dark aura surrounding her entire body. She crossed her arms and shook her head, as if she was scolding a misbehaving toddler. "Seriously," she said. "What made you think you had any hope of living to see tomorrow?"

Morgan said nothing. What could she say? She clenched her teeth together and stood slowly, shaking a bit as she faced the child.

 _"Well,"_ she thought, _"if I'm going to die here, at least I'll die on my feet and not cowering like a small child."_

"Ah," the girl sighed. "That's a nice look on your face. So determined to make a valiant last stand. Reminds me of myself, really."

She held out her hand to the side and a black scythe appeared out of thin air. Black flames engulfed its blade, and she rose it over her head. "Farewell, librarian," she said, and she brought the scythe down, unleashing a massive wave of darkness at the helpless acolyte before her.

Morgan closed her eyes, waiting for that tide to reach her, consume her, and send her on to the afterlife. She couldn't move, couldn't block it; all she could do was wait for the inevitable. Time seemed to slow as she realized death was coming for her. That she would leave so many things unfinished, so many questions unanswered. As she realized this, she was filled with despair. A despair that seemed to drown out every other emotion. The girl's spell had yet to reach her, but she cried out in agony anyway.

Flowey reveled in that scream as he watched it all unfold. He'd discovered that there was one thing that made him feel again. One thing that filled him with excitement and ecstasy: despair. As the former God of Hope, he had despised despair, but now he found it exhilarating. In fact, he had come to think of himself as the new God of Despair. The librarian's scream was like music to his ears, and he cackled in pleasure as it washed over him.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of blue, and his excitement abruptly vanished.

Chara had made one mistake, though she wasn't aware of it yet. The spell that she had thrown at Morgan as she jumped out of the window had missed, and since it had never hit anything it had kept going. It had traveled across the sprawling grounds of the temple and even flew right by the main shrine itself… and smacked right into one the wards Sans had set up.

Death had been on the other side of the world, finishing up his reaping for the day when the psychic alarm went off in his head. He hadn't even bothered to turn around when it happened, he simply teleported as quickly as he could. Now, as he appeared on the scene, his eye blazing and his scythe in hand, he found himself grinning.

 _"Finally,"_ he thought.

He had appeared right at the ward that had been set off, but it didn't take him long to locate Chara's energy. He flew through the night sky, faster than any merely mortal creature could have done, and he reached the library quickly. He saw Chara holding a scythe similar to his own, unleashing some sort of attack. A moment later, he saw the object of her wrath, the helpless acolyte that just stood there waiting for it to arrive. To any human eye, everything was happening to fast to keep track of, too fast to do anything about it. Sans was a god, however, and even among his brethren his reflexes were almost second to none. He took everything in and understood it in an instant, and the night sky was suddenly lit with a azure fireball.

That fireball was what had drawn Flowey's attention and he began to shout a warning but stopped himself. Chara had better reflexes than he did, and she had likely noticed their archenemy's appearance already. Besides, he was momentarily stunned by what he was seeing. He watched in confusion as Death launched that mass of flame not at Chara, but at the spell she had cast at the librarian. The two attacks collided, and the resulting force knocked the librarian back a few more feet, but she was otherwise unscathed. Flowey's eyes narrowed, as his mind considered the implications of that seemingly simple act. After all this time, Death was still more concerned with saving the life of a random human rather than attempting to finish Chara off? He shook himself and quickly moved down beside Chara. He'd consider that later. Right now, he had to devote all of his attention of the situation at hand.

Chara had indeed noticed the God of Death before Flowey had, but not by much. She had been just as surprised when his blue magic lit the sky, and she had also realized that the only reason she hadn't just taken a huge hit was the fact that Death had wasted his opportunity saving that pathetic acolyte.

Well, all the better for her then. If the soft idiot wanted to protect the acolytes that badly, there was no way he'd take her down here. Not when she had dozens of potential hostages to choose from. She felt Flowey move in beside her, his vines thrashing. She smiled and turned back to face Death. He'd wasted his opportunity yet again, and now they had the upper hand.

Confident in her ability to survive the situation she said, "Hey there, skull-face. Miss me?"

"Oh, you have no idea," Sans replied, brandishing his scythe at her.

Chara smiled and readjusted her grip on her own scythe, holding it in a guard position. "What do you think, bone-brain? I've got one of those now, too. I wonder who it looks better on?"

"Why don't you come over here and find out?"

"Please, Sans, I'm not that stupid. Give me a little credit here."

"I don't really feel like humoring a murdering lunatic like you."

Chara's eyes narrowed with renewed fury. " _I'm_ the murderous one? Do you have any idea how hypocritical that makes you sound? Murder wasn't even real till you came around! How dare you judge me like that!"

Sans smiled. She was getting angry, losing control of her emotions, and that was exactly what he wanted. "I dare to judge you all I like, Chara. Kinda my job."

"Damn you!" Chara shouted. "I'll grind your bones into dust! You don't know anything about me!"

"I know plenty," Sans replied. He started walking slowly toward her as he talked. "Like how you built shrines and temples across the land. How you would travel from village to village, always preaching, a never-ending pilgrimage. How people adored you. You'd never take money from them, but could never refuse a gift a chocolate. That was your favorite food, wasn't it?"

Chara began to tremble. "Shut. Up." she said through clenched teeth.

Sans kept walking, the distance between them growing smaller and smaller. His voice grew softer, almost gentle. "You loved the gods like no one else. You were happy. You had parents, and siblings who all loved you. What would they think if they could see you now? Do you really want your legacy to end like this? Known as the acolyte who betrayed the gods? No, who betrayed her own family?"

Vines suddenly ripped towards him, but he swung his scythe with a contemptuous flick of his wrist. Blue flame incinerated them and continued on to strike Flowey right in the face. The flower flew back and slammed into the wall of the building. He fell to the ground, unmoving, dazed from the impact.

Sans turned back to Chara. "Let me help you, Chara. We can end this here and now. Humans are meant to die, there's nothing you or I can do about it. Please, let me give you rest."

She let a scream of fury and launched herself at him. Her movements were easy to read, and he parried her strikes effortlessly, using her own momentum against her. He reached out with his magic, grabbing hold of her body and slammed her into the library wall, where she fell down right next to Flowey.

She staggered back to her feet. She had stopped shaking and her head was bent, eyes staring at the ground, her breathing ragged. "Rest?" she murmured. "I can be… at rest?"

"Yes," Sans said, appearing right in front of her. "Accept your death, and I can free your soul. It is meant to be."

She shuddered, and her arms fell to her sides. Her scythe dropped to the ground.

"Chara Dreemurr," said Sans, his eye aflame. "Your time has come."

He, whose touch was death, reached out his hand and laid it gently on her forehead.

 ** _"Finally."_**


End file.
